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2 weeks ago
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The cabinet secretary has dismissed Conservative demands for an investigation into whether the attorney general has advised the government on issues where he has conflicts of interest.
Chris Wormald, the UK’s most senior civil servant, wrote to Robert Jenrick on Thursday saying there was a “rigorous system” to prevent government law officers from advising on issues where they may be conflicted.
Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, had asked Wormald to investigate potential conflicts arising from Richard Hermer’s career as a human rights barrister, during which he advised Gerry Adams and Sri Lankan asylum seekers who took action against the government.
Under longstanding convention, the issues on which government lawyers advise ministers and the content of their advice are not made public to avoid dragging them into political rows.
Senior lawyers, including the former Tory attorney general Dominic Grieve, have defended Hermer and said the attacks against him were politically motivated.
Lucy Rigby, the solicitor general, told the Commons on Thursday that Wormald had written to Jenrick that “the attorney general’s office has a rigorous system in place” to avoid conflicts.
Rigby told the Commons: “There’s been a really cynical linking in recent days by the opposition of the attorney general with some of his previous clients. I’m happy to confirm that where the attorney general has conflicts he will recuse himself.
“Lord Hermer is a very experienced barrister and during his time in private practice, prior to his appointment to government, he represented high-profile clients in a number of cases,.
“Barristers are required to accept instructions if they are available and qualified to do so. This is the well-known cab rank principle … Put simply, barristers are not their clients.”
Referring to Hermer having represented Adams, Rigby said: “I grew up on military bases in armed forces communities in the 1980s.
“I remember what it felt like when my dad had to check underneath the car before we made every single journey and I note this because it’s the backdrop against which I say that I would defend with every fibre of my being the duty of any barrister in this country including Lord Hermer to defend any client before any court, as indeed we all should.”
She accused the Tories of subverting the principle that government legal advice stays confidential. “The undermining of this really foundational principle of our legal system has been extremely cynical,” she said.
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Jenrick wrote to Wormald that Hermer had “recently represented clients in matters which remain live issues”. He asked the cabinet secretary to establish whether Hermer had advised the government on decisions to repeal the Legacy Act and allow a group of Sri Lankan asylum seekers stranded in the Chagos Islands to come to the UK.
While he was working as a barrister in 2023, Hermer’s clients included Adams, who could be in line to receive compensation if the Legacy Act is repealed, and the Sri Lankan asylum seekers in Diego Garcia. Hermer has said he represented Adams on an issue unconnected to the legacy.
The attorney general’s office has declined to specify which matters Hermer has advised the government on, citing the ministerial code, but said there was “a robust system for considering and managing any conflicts that may arise”.
Grieve said that Jenrick’s suggestion that his past client roster “now colours the viewpoint of the attorney general is pretty disgusting stuff”.
“Robert Jenrick is trying to mount a campaign denigrating the law officers and the rule of law within government, and arguing that Keir Starmer has sold out to lefty lawyers,” Grieve said.
