Keir Starmer’s top legal officer, Richard Hermer, has compared demands by the Tories and Reform for Britain to pull itself from international courts to 1930s Nazi Germany
Keir Starmer’s top legal officer has compared demands by the Tories and Reform for Britain to pull itself from international courts to 1930s Nazi Germany.
Richard Hermer, the Attorney General, admitted international agreements needed reforming but criticised politicians’ “pick and mix” approach to treaties, which he likened to Nazi Germany’s strategy to ensure the state was more powerful than the law.
Giving the annual security lecture at the Royal United Services Institute, a defence think-tank, the senior lawyer hit out at right-wing politicians who want to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), saying that ditching international treaties would provide “provide succour to [Vladimir] Putin”.
He said their «simple» narratives were «reckless and dangerous» and risk making the UK «less prosperous and secure in a troubled world”. And he said their arguments would be more appropriate in “a university debating chamber” than the real world.
READ MORE: Justice system still on brink of ‘collapse’ despite MAJOR prison reforms, top lawyer warns
Nigel Farage has previously said the first thing he would do if he won a general election would be to remove the UK from the ECHR. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has also flirted with the idea of ditching the treaty, saying if the ECHR continued to stop the government acting in the country’s national interest, the UK would «probably have to leave».
In his speech yesterday, Lord Hermer said: “The claim that international law is fine as far as it goes, but can be put aside when the conditions change, is a claim that was made in the early 1930s by ‘realist’ jurists in Germany, most notably Carl Schmitt, whose central thesis was in essence the claim that state power is all that counts, not law.
“Because of the experience of what followed 1933, far-sighted individuals rebuilt and transformed the institutions of international law, as well as internal constitutional law.”
Lord Hermer added: “Their temptingly simple narratives not only misunderstand our history and the nature of international law, it is also reckless and dangerous, and will make us less prosperous and secure in a troubled world.”
He admitted that international law needed to be «critiqued and reformed and improved», but said the Labour government’s approach was “a rejection of the siren song that can sadly now be heard in the Palace of Westminster, not to mention some sections of the media, that Britain abandon the constraints of international law in favour of raw power”.
In one part of his speech, the Attorney General, who is the PM’s chief legal adviser, hit out at former Tory PM Boris Johnson, saying: “No one can sensibly argue that the bombast of Johnson increased the standing of the United Kingdom in the globe – that people took us more seriously as a result of his shtick, that either allies or adversaries were impressed by the doctrine of ‘cakeism’ or thought our reputation or reliability enhanced by legislating to deliberately breach international law,”
He accused Tory critics of making arguments that would be more appropriate in “a university debating chamber” than the real world. “Their analysis is the precise opposite of realistic – it is deeply unworldly, fit for a university debating chamber perhaps, but not the world in which our enemies recognise the strategic benefits of the disintegration of the international rules-based framework,” he said.
“Let me be crystal clear: I do not question for a moment the good faith, let alone patriotism, of the pseudo-realists, but their arguments if ever adopted would provide succour to Putin.
“In this dangerous world it is instructive to ask yourself: if the international law framework fails, if our multilateral institutions fall, then cui bono? Who benefits? The answer is obvious – it is our enemies who succeed. It is obvious that Russia and other malign state actors see the undermining of the legal-based framework as a core objective.”
Asked about his comments on Friday morning, Schools Minister Catherine McKinnell said: «I think any discussion around withdrawing from the international stage just supports people and the agenda of people like Putin. And we’ve seen the results of what is going on in Ukraine.
«And we’re absolutely committed to our international security, but also upholding international law and the UK playing its part in supporting and upholding that. And I think it’s an important discussion and debate to be had.»
Richard Holden, Tory shadow paymaster general, told Times Radio Lord Hermer’s comparison of those who criticise the ECHR to Nazis is «outrageous» and comes as the latest «in a series of embarrassing interventions from Lord Hermer.»
READ MORE: Join our Mirror politics WhatsApp group to get the latest updates from Westminster
