Former attorney general Dominic Grieve has criticised politicians for fuelling “hysteria and anger” over immigration, warning that criminal trials are at risk of collapse due to contempt of court. Speaking to the Guardian, Grieve said some politicians “seem to have thrown the rulebook in the bonfire” by commenting on live cases involving serious crimes such as rape and abduction.
At a Reform UK press conference, a council leader referred to a man awaiting trial as “the criminal” despite no conviction. Party leader Nigel Farage defended the remark, calling it “good” that the councillor had become “slightly emotional”. The Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, urged the attorney general to issue a formal warning to Farage, stating such comments “put prosecutions at risk and could let dangerous criminals walk free”.
Former counter-terrorism chief Neil Basu warned that rhetoric from Farage and Tory shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick risked “unwittingly” inciting violence, accusing them of copying Donald Trump’s tactics to win votes. Basu said the language was “capable, demonstrably, of causing violence”.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has asked for guidance to permit police to release the ethnicity or immigration status of criminal suspects, amid protests outside asylum hotels. Former justice secretaries Robert Buckland, David Gauke, and Charlie Falconer also called for a change in tone, though some backed greater police transparency to calm tensions.
Grieve cited the trial of two British Pakistani men over a police assault at Manchester airport as another case where social media had undermined contempt laws. He said: “With social media, contempt of court has gone out of the window. It seems to be a complete free for all.”
