The Attorney General was yesterday accused of abusing a Whitehall convention to dodge ‘conflict of interest’ concerns about his past clients.
MPs said Lord Hermer was ‘extending’ the convention’s boundaries to avoid questions about his role in a string of controversial government decisions, including a potential law change which paves the way for Gerry Adams to receive compensation.
During a Commons debate, MPs questioned whether Lord Hermer’s position was ‘tenable’ given that Mr Adams was a former client of his when he was a specialist human rights lawyer.
But the Government repeatedly refused to say whether he recused himself from giving legal advice on the law change which is set to benefit his former client.
Ministers also faced calls from MPs to ensure that ‘not a single penny’ of taxpayer-funded compensation is given to Mr Adams, whose ‘hands are dripping with innocent people’s blood’.
The debate was finally allowed to take place by Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, after he blocked one happening on Monday. It remains unclear why he did so. A debate was also blocked in the Lords on Tuesday.
Opening yesterday’s hearing, the Tories’ Helen Grant, the shadow solicitor general, said: ‘This is about the proper mechanisms for recusal when matters concerning former clients come before the government.
‘The House must know what safeguards are in place to protect the public interest when such situations arise.’
She went on to ask if Lord Hermer had recused himself ‘from any matters’ since being appointed Sir Keir Starmer’s top legal adviser last year.
Lucy Rigby, Lord Hermer’s deputy, said that a list of potential conflicts of interest was drawn up with the Foreign Office, Crown Prosecution Service and Serious Fraud Office and that this is ‘kept under review and amended’.
But she refused to say whether Lord Hermer, who did not appear because he is not an MP and sits with peers, had recused himself from the law change relating to Mr Adams.
She said that doing so would break the Law Officers’ Convention – a rule that Attorney Generals cannot reveal what legal advice they have given the Government.
She insisted that a ‘rigorous system’ was in place to ensure Lord Hermer would never be asked to give legal advice ‘on any matter that could give rise to a potential conflict of interest’.
But Tory MP Joe Robertson, a practising solicitor, said: ‘Does she accept that the Law Officers’ Convention is being extended in the interest of the Attorney General not answering legitimate questions about recusal and conflict of interest, and that nobody should seek to extend that principle beyond its intention in order to remain silent?’
Ms Rigby replied: ‘I do not accept that the Law Officers’ Convention is being extended at all.’
Tory MP Ben Obese-Jecty asked whether Lord Hermer’s position was ‘even tenable’ given that ‘he has a track record of taking up multiple cases against the British government?’
And DUP MP Jim Shannon said: ‘Adams’ hands are dripping with innocent blood, not least from when he was the commander of a bombing which killed many of my constituents.‘
So will the Attorney General recuse himself from all matters relating to Adams, and will this government ensure that Adams doesn’t get one single penny?’
Ms Rigby replied: ‘The convention, as I have already stated, does not permit me to reveal where the Attorney General has been asked for advice, nor when he is advised.’
The Government is repealing legislation that currently bars Mr Adams, who has always denied being an IRA member, from suing ministers over his ‘unlawful’ detention in prison in the 1970s.
When he was a practising barrister, Lord Hermer represented Mr Adams in a separate case involving compensation claims by the victims of IRA bomb attacks.He also acted for human rights group Liberty in 2020 in the case of jihadi bride Shamima Begum, arguing she should be allowed to return to Britain.
In 2023 he represented the families of Afghan civilians at the Independent Inquiry on Afghanistan, which is scrutinising the actions of British Special Forces.
It came as Britain’s top civil servant, Cabinet Secretary Sir Chris Wormald, rejected calls for an investigation into Lord Hermer’s potential conflict of interests.
Sir Chris, who was given the role by Sir Keir Starmer last month, wrote a letter to Robert Jenrick, the Tories’ justice spokesman, dismissing his call for a probe.
Confirming the correspondence in the Commons debate, Ms Rigby said: ‘The Attorney General’s Office has a rigorous system in place to ensure that a law officer would not be consulted on any matter that could give rise to a potential conflict of interest.’