Sir Keir Starmer’s Attorney General has had a rather rocky start to his role. Richard Hermer KC has come under scrutiny over his links to Sir Keir Starmer’s controversial Chagos deal, his stance on slavery reparations and his position on Israel. And now, at Prime Minister’s Questions today, the Prime Minister had to fend off questions about his Attorney General’s rather, um, interesting list of former clients during his time as a barrister.
Responding to Tory attacks, Sir Keir told the Commons: ‘We’ve long had the principle that everybody is entitled to legal representation in this country. This means lawyers do not necessarily agree with their clients.’ Of course – but it’s rather curious just how unlucky the now-Attorney General got with his selection. Here’s a list of some of Hermer’s most notorious clients below…
Gerry Adams, former Sinn Féin president
The former Sinn Féin president was among Hermer’s clients while he worked as a barrister in 2023 – and questions have been raised about the Attorney General’s involvement with Labour’s plans to repeal the Legacy Act, which Adams could benefit from. Hermer came under scrutiny over his relationship with the ex-politician after he was quizzed on whether he had a ‘conditional fee agreement’ with the Irishman. Rather hesitantly, the Attorney General replied: ‘Um… I’m afraid I can’t recall – and even if I could recall I’m not sure I would feel inclined to answer a question as to how, the basis to which I was paid by any given client.’ How curious…
Rangzieb Ahmed, convicted terrorist who worked with al-Qaeda
The now-Attorney General also represented Ahmed, a convicted British terrorist who worked with al-Qaeda, in the claimant’s long-running civil case against the government. Acting for Ahmed, Hermer raised questions about whether MI5 had colluded in Pakistan’s torture of the terrorist. The KC told the court that ‘this case contains serious allegations about the conduct of the security services’ and even suggested that it could be one of a number of cases in which the intelligence organisation had been accused of being complicit in torture during the ‘war on terror’. Good heavens…
Maha Elgizouli, mother of one of ‘Islamic State Beatles’
When he was working as a human rights barrister, Hermer represented Elgizouli – the mother of an IS member who was involved with the group behind the beheading of US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning. Elgizouli’s son El Shafee El-Sheikh was part of the Isis ‘Beatles’, so-called because of the members’ British accents. In 2020, Hermer won a Supreme Court appeal that overturned a secret deal struck two years prior between then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid and US Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Hermer’s work meant the UK government was blocked from sharing information about Elgizouli’s son with the US without assurances he would not be executed.
Liberty, pro-Shamima Begum human rights group
And, surprise surprise, Hermer also acted for human rights organisation Liberty, which was in favour of allowing Shamima Begum leave to enter the UK. 15-year-old Begum left the UK for Syria in 2015 to join the Islamic State. After she was discovered in a refugee camp in Northern Syria in 2019, then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid revoked her British citizenship. Despite the efforts of Begum’s lawyers and Hermer intervening for Liberty, in 2021 the Supreme Court unanimously upheld Javid’s decision to refuse Begum to appeal the loss of her citizenship.
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