The Krays, Dennis Nilsen – and Chris Grayling: a conversation with Sir Ivan Lawrence QC

I’m standing with Sir Ivan Lawrence QC in a narrow room at his Pump Court chambers, examining an oil painting sent to him from Broadmoor by his former client the late Ronnie Kray. It is a naive depiction of a house in a field which could, at first glance, be the work of a worryingly forceful five-year-old. Yet what it lacks in finesse it makes up for in emphasis: the signature ‘R Kray’ is daubed in thumping capitals.

Sir Ivan defended Kray in his 1969 murder trial over the killing of George Cornell in the Blind Beggar pub in Whitechapel. Cornell, a member of the rival Richardson gang, had reportedly called Ronnie ‘a fat poofter’. Although Ronnie was duly convicted and sentenced to life, he retained respect for his counsel. ‘They had a sort of a sense of humour,’ says Sir Ivan of the Krays. ‘I was standing for election in Peckham at the time, and Ronnie said’ — he slips skilfully into an adenoidal East End intonation — ‘“Thank you for what you’ve done for me, sir. We’ll keep our fingers crossed for you in Peckham so you can become Home Secretary and let us out early.” ’ Like Sir Ivan, however, Ronnie supported capital punishment.

The young barrister — a working-class, Jewish grammar-school boy from Brighton — was later elected Conservative MP for Burton in 1974 and held the seat for 23 years. Although never Home Secretary, he rose to become chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee and an influential figure on the Eurosceptic wing of the party, instigating the National Lottery with a private member’s bill. It must have been a shock to the present Conservative leadership, therefore, to witness the 77-year-old Sir Ivan in full rhetorical flight last March, supporting an unprecedented walkout by criminal barristers. To cheers, the lifelong Tory declared: ‘I am ashamed of this government’ over swingeing cuts to legal aid and barristers’ fees enacted by Chris Grayling, the Justice Secretary.