5 days ago
Calls for Lord Hermer to quit over role in Lucy Connolly prosecution
On Saturday night, Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, called on Sir Keir Starmer to sack his legal chief, saying: 'His judgment is a national embarrassment. After Southport, facts were buried while ministers ranted about far-Right thugs.
'Starmer should sack Hermer, or admit he's not really in charge. It speaks volumes that our Attorney General is content to keep people like Lucy Connolly behind bars for a tweet as violent criminals are released early.'
'Connolly should never have been prosecuted'
Suella Braverman, who served as attorney general between 2021 and 2022, said: 'Lucy Connolly should never have been prosecuted, and should now be freed from prison. The charges brought against her were not in the public interest, and if I was attorney general I would not have granted consent to prosecute.
'The CPS has a woeful track record of prosecuting rapists and domestic abusers, yet the Attorney General considered Lucy's Twitter post sufficiently serious to justify prosecution. The Government is recklessly letting out dangerous criminals early, yet this Attorney General thought the costs and resources required to prosecute Lucy for her message were proportionate.
'This Attorney General is enforcing two-tier Britain under two-tier Keir. No wonder the UK has become a global byword for free speech in crisis, our reputation tarnished by political prosecutions and lawfare.'
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: 'Lord Hermer has shown consistently poor judgment in a number of areas.
'From cheerleading the Chagos Islands giveaway to smearing political opponents as Nazis, it is quite clear he is not an appropriate person to serve as Attorney General and should be removed.
'No one condones the contents of Lucy Connolly's post, but her two and a half year prison sentence seems duly harsh given that people who commit actual acts of violence receive far lower sentences.'
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, told The Telegraph: 'Lord Hermer sums up Starmer's Government. A group of detached two-tier human right lawyers. No wonder the public have given up on them all.'
Attorney General consent for prosecution
Connolly was jailed for inciting racial hatred, which is an offence under the Public Order Act (1986).
That offence, along with 60 others, requires that the Attorney General give their consent to any prosecutions. The requirement was designed to act as a safeguard to prevent the criminal justice system unreasonably clamping down on free speech, The Telegraph understands.
When deciding whether or not to give consent for a prosecution, the Attorney General must first determine whether a conviction is likely and if so, if it would be in the public interest, it is understood.
Across last year, the Attorney General was presented with 32 prosecutions to consider relating to the offence of inciting racial hatred – 17 of which were to do with the Southport riots.
It is rare for the Attorney General to refuse to give consent because, by the time it reaches their office, the Crown Prosecution Service will have itself determined that a successful prosecution is likely, it is understood.
Last September, Connolly pleaded guilty to writing a social media post intended to stir up racial hatred to her 10,000 followers on X on the evening after three children were murdered in a knife attack in Southport.
She wrote: 'Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f---ing hotels full of the b------s for all I care, while you're at it take the treacherous government politicians with them. I feel physically sick knowing what these [Southport] families will now have to endure. If that makes me racist, so be it.'
Following the peak of the disorder in August, Lord Hermer described the jailing of individuals advocating for attacks on migrant hotels as 'a stark warning that you cannot hide behind your keyboard'.
