Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick has sparked controversy after comparing Attorney General Lord Hermer to a 'mafia lawyer' and calling him a 'useful idiot' for Britain's enemies. In a speech at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Jenrick also pledged to remove judges with links to migrant charities, accusing them of dishonouring independent jurists.
Jenrick criticised Lord Hermer for representing clients such as Shamima Begum and terrorists linked to the 7/7 attacks, and for advising the government on the Chagos Islands deal. A Labour source dismissed the remarks as a 'personal attack' designed to mask Jenrick's poor grasp of the law, noting that a judge recently criticised him for risking a murder trial collapse.
The attorney general previously defended his client list, comparing it to a journalist interviewing controversial figures. Jenrick also claimed to have uncovered judges with ties to 'open border charities' and said a future Tory government would sack any such members of the judiciary.
Former Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption warned that Jenrick's plans to remove activist judges would be a 'serious mistake', risking judicial independence akin to the US model. The speech followed a leaked recording where Jenrick complained about not seeing 'another white face' during a visit to Birmingham.
