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| Populist threat to rule of law a danger to UK working class, says attorney general | Populist threat to rule of law a danger to UK working class, says attorney general |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| Richard Hermer aims criticism at Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick at Labour conference event | Richard Hermer aims criticism at Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick at Labour conference event |
| Rightwing populists threaten working-class people’s protections under the rule of law, the attorney general has said in his most political intervention yet. | Rightwing populists threaten working-class people’s protections under the rule of law, the attorney general has said in his most political intervention yet. |
| In a criticism directed squarely at Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick, Richard Hermer said populist politicians posed a threat to the everyday protectionsafforded to people who used the legal system and the courts to right significant wrongs. | In a criticism directed squarely at Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick, Richard Hermer said populist politicians posed a threat to the everyday protectionsafforded to people who used the legal system and the courts to right significant wrongs. |
| Speaking on the first day of the Labour party conference in Liverpool, Hermer said: “If you can’t trust your case will be heard, or heard fairly, or if your fundamental rights are taken away, it is working-class people who will pay the price.” | Speaking on the first day of the Labour party conference in Liverpool, Hermer said: “If you can’t trust your case will be heard, or heard fairly, or if your fundamental rights are taken away, it is working-class people who will pay the price.” |
| His remarks were aimed at rightwing politicians who have increasingly attacked the legal system and in some cases put trials at risk of collapse by making remarks that could prejudice active court proceedings. | His remarks were aimed at rightwing politicians who have increasingly attacked the legal system and in some cases put trials at risk of collapse by making remarks that could prejudice active court proceedings. |
| A judge criticised Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, this month for making “ill-thought-through” social media comments about a murder trial a week after it had begun. | A judge criticised Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, this month for making “ill-thought-through” social media comments about a murder trial a week after it had begun. |
| Jenrick, writing about the trial of Elias Morgan for the murder of the former prison officer Lenny Scott, said in a since deleted post on X on 1 July: “Lenny exposed corruption and took on the gangster controlling a prison wing. He received threats to his life but he was left unsupported. Four years later he was shot dead. That will enrage any decent person. We need radical change, now.” | Jenrick, writing about the trial of Elias Morgan for the murder of the former prison officer Lenny Scott, said in a since deleted post on X on 1 July: “Lenny exposed corruption and took on the gangster controlling a prison wing. He received threats to his life but he was left unsupported. Four years later he was shot dead. That will enrage any decent person. We need radical change, now.” |
| The prosecutor in the trial, Alex Leach KC, raised Jenrick’s tweet in court with the jury absent. He told Mr Justice Goose: “The post is problematic because it delivers as apparent fact what the prosecution relies upon.” The prosecution took steps to have the post taken down and it is no longer online. Morgan was found guilty on 29 August. | The prosecutor in the trial, Alex Leach KC, raised Jenrick’s tweet in court with the jury absent. He told Mr Justice Goose: “The post is problematic because it delivers as apparent fact what the prosecution relies upon.” The prosecution took steps to have the post taken down and it is no longer online. Morgan was found guilty on 29 August. |
| Separately, the Reform MP Richard Tice has endorsed vigilante-style gangs patrolling the streets, in remarks that critics said undermined the police and rule of law. | Separately, the Reform MP Richard Tice has endorsed vigilante-style gangs patrolling the streets, in remarks that critics said undermined the police and rule of law. |
| And at a press conference last month, a Reform council leader referred to a man awaiting trial as “the criminal” despite him not having been convicted of any crime. Questioned on whether contempt laws had been broken, Farage, the party leader, said it was good that the council leader had become “slightly emotional”. | And at a press conference last month, a Reform council leader referred to a man awaiting trial as “the criminal” despite him not having been convicted of any crime. Questioned on whether contempt laws had been broken, Farage, the party leader, said it was good that the council leader had become “slightly emotional”. |
| Hermer said: “The rule of law is under threat from populists, whose ineffective solutions would harm working-class people. They are attempting to kick away the support net for ordinary people, who use our legal and judicial system to right significant wrongs.” | Hermer said: “The rule of law is under threat from populists, whose ineffective solutions would harm working-class people. They are attempting to kick away the support net for ordinary people, who use our legal and judicial system to right significant wrongs.” |
| He made the remarks at a conference fringe event hosted by the University College London policy lab and More in Common. | |
| A source close to the attorney general said he “wants to make a more proactive case for how rights offer everyday protections for working-class people, such as the Human Rights Act helping secure justice for the families of those killed in the Hillsborough disaster, and as a platform for economic growth”. | A source close to the attorney general said he “wants to make a more proactive case for how rights offer everyday protections for working-class people, such as the Human Rights Act helping secure justice for the families of those killed in the Hillsborough disaster, and as a platform for economic growth”. |
| Hermer argued that the increase in inflammatory rhetoric against lawyers “has real-world consequences as well, including an increase in personal attacks on judges and lawyers, who are simply doing their jobs”. | Hermer argued that the increase in inflammatory rhetoric against lawyers “has real-world consequences as well, including an increase in personal attacks on judges and lawyers, who are simply doing their jobs”. |
| The comments built on a speech Hermer made at the Old Bailey over the summer in which he criticised “a worrying tendency in recent times in this country to attack the judiciary, to seek to undermine them by portraying them as partisan”. | The comments built on a speech Hermer made at the Old Bailey over the summer in which he criticised “a worrying tendency in recent times in this country to attack the judiciary, to seek to undermine them by portraying them as partisan”. |
| He said: “We have seen an increase in personal attack on individual judges, not only by newspapers but by British politicians – including frontbenchers in parliament – in terms that would have seemed scarcely believable even only a few years ago. | He said: “We have seen an increase in personal attack on individual judges, not only by newspapers but by British politicians – including frontbenchers in parliament – in terms that would have seemed scarcely believable even only a few years ago. |
| “This has been accompanied by an increase in physical and online threats to judges, mirrored in some appalling threats to lawyers. These attacks are as misplaced as they are dangerous.” | “This has been accompanied by an increase in physical and online threats to judges, mirrored in some appalling threats to lawyers. These attacks are as misplaced as they are dangerous.” |
| Hermer rejected claims by some of his Labour colleagues that he was standing in the way of reforming Britain’s human rights framework. “Good lawyers are not blockers, they are enablers,” he said. | Hermer rejected claims by some of his Labour colleagues that he was standing in the way of reforming Britain’s human rights framework. “Good lawyers are not blockers, they are enablers,” he said. |
| Pressed on whether he held responsibility for the outcome of the case against Kneecap, which resulted in a terror charge against the group’s rapper Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh being thrown out, he said part of his job “when things go wrong is to be really analytical” in order “to make sure that something like this does not happen again”. | Pressed on whether he held responsibility for the outcome of the case against Kneecap, which resulted in a terror charge against the group’s rapper Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh being thrown out, he said part of his job “when things go wrong is to be really analytical” in order “to make sure that something like this does not happen again”. |