The Government’s ‘Progressive’ Top Lawyer Is Off to a Rocky Start

When the UK banned 30 arms export licences to Israel earlier this month, it left some gaping loopholes. Most notably, the ban didn’t include parts for F-35 fighter jets which have been used by Israel to kill civilians in Gaza.

One person to take criticism over his part of the affair was attorney general Richard Hermer KC. As the government deferred and – in the words of one MP – “finagled” over the decision, Hermer told the foreign office he would not approve the ban unless there was certainty over which weapons would break international law.

Hermer’s appointment as the government’s top legal advisor in July over former shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry seemed partly to be a concession to the Palestine movement, after Labour lost seats to pro-Palestine independent MPs. When asked on Newsnight about the cutting off of food, water and electricity to Gaza, Thornberry had defended Israel’s “right to defend itself”. Hermer’s past criticism of Israeli war-crimes, meanwhile, prompted a hit-piece from the Jewish Chronicle.

But Hermer has had a rocky start. Amid the controversy around the weapons licences, a further detail evaded scrutiny. Buried in the policy paper explaining the decision, the government admitted that there are “credible claims of the mistreatment of detainees” by Israel.

This is a bit like saying there is compelling evidence of the Pope’s Catholicism. According to Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, since 7 October 2023, “more than a dozen Israeli prison facilities, both military and civilian, were converted into a network of camps dedicated to the abuse of inmates”. Most inmates are held without trial and are subjected to “unrelenting physical and psychological violence, denial of medical treatment, starvation, withholding of water, sleep deprivation and confiscation of all personal belongings”.

The government’s position was criticised as “a gross understatement and obfuscation of the reality of Israel’s systemic use of torture” by the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) – which nonetheless welcomed the admission of mistreatment as an “important step”.

Prior to the government’s admission, the ICJP had written to Hermer, asking what steps the government was taking to prevent Israel from torturing Palestinian detainees and how UK residents who have served in the Israeli military would be investigated for potential war crimes.

The attorney general’s office says it aims to respond to correspondence within 20 days. It missed the deadline and the policy paper was published one day after the time limit was up. Almost a month later, the ICJP is still waiting.

It’s unusual for Hermer to have nothing to say about torture. In 2016, when Donald Trump was a presidential candidate, he boasted that he would “bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding”. Hermer was appalled, writing: “What is being mooted is so repugnant to our concept of human decency that nothing less than the clearest statements from our leaders could possibly suffice.” So how come he’s now ghosting Palestine rights groups asking questions about torture now?

It’s not as if his new position prevents him from making statements about this kind of thing. In a recent visit to Kyiv to speak at the United for Justice conference, Hermer didn’t mince his words, saying: “Russia must be accountable both for specific atrocities and its act of aggression. From the battlefield to the courtroom, the UK stands with Ukraine.”

Hermer now faces a further challenge to his progressive credentials – or perhaps an opportunity to redeem himself.

Last week saw the launch of the Free Political Prisoners campaign. It is demanding a public meeting with Hermer “to discuss the measures necessary to restore the fundamental rights to protest and fair trial essential to a functioning democracy, as called for by the United Nations”, following years of crackdowns on the rights of protesters.

Here, the government has shown further signs of troubling continuity with the Tories. In August, human rights group Liberty said the government would continue an appeal trying to defend the government’s use of a statutory instrument to lower the threshold for what is considered “serious disruption” at a protest – a controversial anti-protest measure brought in under Suella Braverman when she was home secretary.

Campaigners plan to hold a free public exhibition of “political prisoners throughout history” outside the attorney general’s office. “We plan to increase the pressure on the attorney general until he engages,” a briefing document from the campaign says.

The campaign is also demanding the freeing of 40 peaceful protesters currently being held in UK prisons and the removal of John Woodcock, AKA Lord Walney, from his position as nominally “independent” advisor on political violence and disruption.

When questioned on these matters, the attorney general’s office confirmed that it has now responded to the ICJP and will respond to Free Political Prisoners in due course.

Speaking at a fringe meeting of the Society of Labour Lawyers at the Labour conference this week, Hermer said: “I think we need to be militant about our belief in the rule of law and human rights. We should be shouting it from the rooftops.”

Hopefully Hermer will live up to these words, and extend them to Palestinians.

Update, 27 September 2024: This article has been updated with the response of the attorney general’s office.