‘Unbearable’ Hermer Butting Heads With Cooper and Mahmood in Cabinet Struggle
Labour Attorney General Richard Hermer continues to come under fire today after a bruising story-a-day stint last week and the week before. While cabinet ministers and government insiders criticised Hermer’s obsession with grinding government to a halt he was busy telling European politicians that the government would never challenge the ECHR on anything…
The Times‘ leader this morning picks up Guido’s reporting to call on Starmer to reign in his AG’s “unsustainable” approach to legislation. Government sources say the “arrogant senior lawyer” continues to be trusted and rated by Starmer. As ever with Keir’s nearest and dearest it will take a large amount of pressure to convince the PM to change course…
Guido hears Starmer consults with Hermer on numerous issues far beyond the scope of government legal work. One Downing Street source tells Guido: “Hermer is a lawyer’s sort of lawyer – not political enough for the role.” Insiders say Yvette Cooper and Shabana Mahmood take particular issue with Hermer and find him “very frustrating” and “personally unbearable.” Hermer sits in the PM’s blind spot – there is more than one human rights lawyer causing headaches in government…
