Well, well, well. After a rather rocky ride in the Sunday papers, Lord Hermer is back in the spotlight this week – for all the wrong reasons. It has emerged that Labour MPs are now calling on the Prime Minister’s ethics tsar to probe the Attorney General over potential conflicts of interest. Talk about a bad start to the job, eh?
Richard Hermer has only been in post for seven months and yet he’s managed to ruffle a rather lot of feathers. The Attorney General has refused to reveal details of payments he has received since becoming a minister, including any earnings from his list of former clients, in a position not in keeping with his predecessors. More than that, Hermer has refused to tell MPs whether he has recused himself from offering advice on cases in which he previously was involved in as a lawyer. How very curious…
Questions about Hermer’s potential conflicts of interests have been floating around for quite some time now. As Mr S pointed out in January, the Attorney General landed himself in a rather sticky spot when he appeared unable to comment on his links to his former client and ex-Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams and whether he had a ‘conditional fee agreement’ with the Irish politician. Steerpike also has a list of Lord Hermer’s most, er, controversial clients here…
For its part, the Attorney General’s office has explained:
It is a feature and cornerstone of our legal system that legal professionals operate the cab rank rule when it comes to clients, and barristers do not associate themselves with their clients’ opinions. There are robust systems for declaring interests, as well as considering and managing any conflicts that may arise, in line with the professional obligations of law officers.
That hasn’t satisfied everyone, however. Speaking to the Telegraph, Labour politician Graham Stringer insisted that the PM’s independent ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus must probe the Attorney General. In a hint that Hermer’s job could be in a precarious place, he remarked: ‘I hope that these questions will be answered as quickly as possible by Sir Laurie so that we can end the current uncertainty around the Attorney General’s position.’ Another Labour MP was a little more forthright, blasting Hermer: ‘It’s an absolute aberration to have a senior minister avoiding that transparency. I’m surprised this still hasn’t been sorted.’ Tick tock…
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