Attorney General Lord Hermer accused of handing himself 'effective veto' over government policy
Attorney General Lord Hermer has been accused of handing himself an 'effective veto' over Labour policies.
The peer has issued guidance to government lawyers stressing the importance of following international law.
The document includes what has been branded a 'snitch clause', urging civil servants to report any concerns that ministerial actions might be illegal.
The tweaks seemingly water down instructions issued by Suella Braverman in 2022 to prevent lawyers from 'blocking' plans.
In total, Lord Hermer - a senior human rights barrister before entering government - is said to have added 23 references to international law to the guidance.
Legal staff are also instructed to assume that every decision taken by government could face a challenge. Previously the advice suggested challenges were unlikely.
Attorney General Lord Hermer has been accused of handing himself an 'effective veto' over Labour policies
The peer has issued guidance to government lawyers stressing the importance of following international law
Critics have complained that Lord Hermer, a long-time ally of Keir Starmer, has put too much emphasis on the letter of international law.
Just last month he was accused of 'blocking' Britain from helping to defend Israel against Iran strikes.
He is also said to have played a major role in 'surrendering' the Chagos Islands, the UK's last territory in the Indian Ocean, to adhere to a non-binding ruling by the International Court of Justice.
Sir Michael Ellis, a former Conservative attorney general, said Lord Hermer had 'effectively given himself a veto over all government business'.
'It is quite something if ministers of the crown within the same Government cannot be trusted, and have to be snitched on by their own officials,' he told The Telegraph.
Tory frontbencher Alex Burghart branded the guidance a 'surrender charter'.
He said: 'Measures like the snitch clause will undermine discussion across government and harm our national interest.
The tweaks seemingly water down instructions issued by Suella Braverman (pictured) in 2022 to prevent lawyers from 'blocking' plans
'Keir Starmer's Attorney General is putting the partisan views of activist lawyers before the national interest.'
A source close to Lord Hermer branded the allegations 'desperate nonsense'.
'This is desperate nonsense from a Tory Party who have lost credibility on law and order and upholding the rule of law,' the source said.
'On their watch, Tory Ministers routinely pursued unworkable gimmicks that they knew would be defeated in the courts such as the Rwanda debacle - an approach that wasted millions of pounds of taxpayers money and trounced our reputation as a country proud of the rule of law.
'In contrast, this government demands lawyers to be creative solution finders, enabling our ambitious plan for change to succeed - unblocking obstacles so that policies are not held up for years in the court as was always the way under the last administration.'
A spokesman for the Attorney General said: 'We are getting on with delivering the Plan for Change, from getting NHS waiting lists down, to rolling out free breakfast clubs in primary schools, expanding free school meals, and creating growth, wealth and opportunity for all.
'Government lawyers advise ministers, but it is always ministers that make decisions on policy as has been the case under successive governments.'
