The Labour lawyer love-in with the ECHR

With Sue Gray gone, one might have expected the Labour government’s infighting to have subsided. But there is a new public enemy now: Richard Hermer KC. The Attorney General has caused quite the commotion during his time in the top job, with questions raised over his links to Sir Keir Starmer’s controversial Chagos deal, his legal representation of ex-Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams and his stance on Israel. It’s his commitment to the ECHR, however, that has ruffled feathers in recent days as the government attempts to improve its messaging on migration.

Hermer sparked outrage among government figures when, on the same day that it was announced that new small boats legislation would prevent migrants with criminal records claiming modern slavery protections, he told the Council of Europe the government would ‘never withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights, or refuse to comply with judgments of the court’. Er, right.