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| Bar Council urges Liz Truss to condemn attacks on judges | Bar Council urges Liz Truss to condemn attacks on judges |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| "Serious and unjustified" attacks on senior judges over the Brexit ruling should be condemned by Lord Chancellor Liz Truss, the Bar Council has said. | "Serious and unjustified" attacks on senior judges over the Brexit ruling should be condemned by Lord Chancellor Liz Truss, the Bar Council has said. |
| The demand for action comes in the wake of criticism from some Tory MPs and newspapers over the ruling that MPs should vote on triggering Article 50. | The demand for action comes in the wake of criticism from some Tory MPs and newspapers over the ruling that MPs should vote on triggering Article 50. |
| The Daily Mail branded judges "Enemies of the people", while the Daily Express said it was "the day democracy died". | The Daily Mail branded judges "Enemies of the people", while the Daily Express said it was "the day democracy died". |
| Labour said Ms Truss had "let down" the judiciary with her silence. | Labour said Ms Truss had "let down" the judiciary with her silence. |
| On Thursday, the High Court ruled Parliament should vote on when the government can trigger Article 50, beginning the formal process of the UK leaving the EU. | |
| The judges found that the government could not start the formal process by using the royal prerogative alone, and would need the backing of both the Commons and the Lords. | |
| Following fierce criticism of the ruling, the Bar Council of England and Wales has now called for Ms Truss - who as Lord Chancellor is responsible for courts, prisons, probation and constitutional affairs - to defend the judges. | |
| In a statement it said it regretted "the lack of public statement by the Lord Chancellor condemning these attacks". | |
| It called on her to do so "as a matter of urgency". | |
| "A strong independent judiciary is essential to a functioning democracy and to upholding the rule of law," it said in a statement. | |
| Ms Truss is yet to respond to the call. | |
| Tory MP and former Attorney-General, Dominic Grieve, compared coverage in one UK newspaper to the Nazi party's mouthpiece, the Voelkischer Beobachter. | |
| He told BBC Radio 5 live: "Newspapers in a free society can do what they like. | |
| "But if you did decide to behave immoderately and whip up frenzied hatred you can do that in a free society if you set about it and newspapers like the Daily Mail are no different from the Voelkischer Beobachter in Nazi Germany if they run headlines of that type." | |
| Shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon called on the government to intervene to curb the level of criticism. | |
| He said the "first duty" of the Lord Chancellor was to protect the independence of the judiciary. | |
| "To be frank her silence on this is embarrassing, and she's letting down the British judiciary and the British legal system. Giving judges a roasting isn't part and parcel of any healthy democracy," he said. |