Labour spat as peer brands attorney general Lord Hermer 'arrogant, progressive fool' and calls for him to quit

10 February 2025, 17:48

A Labour peer has called for Keir Starmer's attorney general Lord Hermer to quit, branding him "arrogant".

Lord Glasman, who is part of the socially conservative Blue Labour group, also said that Lord Hermer was a "fool" for his "progressive" policy positions.

Keir Starmer, said to be a friend of Lord Hermer, has previously backed the attorney general via a spokesperson despite criticism in recent weeks.

Lord Glasman said that his fellow Labour peer had "got to go".

"He is the absolute archetype of an arrogant, progressive fool who thinks that law is a replacement for politics," he told the New Statesman.

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"They talk about the rule of law but what they want is a rule of lawyers.”

The comments signal a cultural divide at the top of Labour as some senior figures within the party look with trepidation at the rise of Reform UK in the polls.

Key concerns include Britain's high immigration, failure to build infrastructure - and the costly deal to give away the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

Lord Glasman added of the government: “They’re still going ahead with the Chagos deal, they’re not grasping any form of industrialisation, particularly around Ukraine and defence, where we could go into a really serious position as the leading military power in Europe".

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Lord Hermer previously responded to his critics in an interview with parliamentary magazine The House, saying: "If they are criticising the Government because it wants to comply with international law, if they want to pick a fight with the Government because it says international law is important and that we want to uphold international law, then that’s a fight I’d quite look forward to.”

In recent weeks questions have been raised about whether Lord Hermer's previous work - including representing former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams - could result in possible conflicts of interest in his Government work.

A spokesperson for the government said in January that it was "a matter of public record that Lord Hermer has ceased all private practice following his appointment as Attorney General" and has declared his previous roles.

"There are different requirements for the declarations of both Lords and MPs, as set out in the respective code of conducts," the spokesman added.

Asked whether Sir Keir Starmer has confidence in his top legal adviser, the spokesman said: "He has absolute confidence in him."

He added: "Let's be clear about the effects of not engaging properly with the law as a Government.

"Failing to do so leads to judicial reviews which delay projects, routinely cost taxpayers tens of millions of pounds and end up blocking exactly the type of major new infrastructure that everyone accepts the country desperately needs.

"Taking the law properly into account is important, but we're also acting to make sure the law isn't simply used to block progress at any cost."