
Lewis Goodall 10am - 12pm
30 May 2025, 12:56 | Updated: 30 May 2025, 13:00
Sir Keir Starmer's top legal adviser has likened calls to quit the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to demands that led to the rise of Nazi Germany.
The attorney general has compared threats by politicians to leave international law such as the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to 1930s Nazi Germany.
Speaking at the defence think-tank Rusi on Thursday, Lord Richard Hermer KC said calls for the UK to quit international agreements echoed similar demands by legal experts in 1930s Germany who rejected international law and human rights in favour of state power.
Today, he said he "regrets" the remarks.
Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, have expressed support for leaving the ECHR, claiming it is being exploited by illegal migrants and foreign criminals to avoid deportation.
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During a speech in Rusi’s annual security lecture, Lord Hermer also criticised Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch for “reckless and dangerous” threats to pull out of international agreements, saying it would put the UK’s security at risk and benefit Vladimir Putin.
Ms Badenoch has hinted that she would be prepared to leave the ECHR unless it is reformed.
Lord Hermer also set out Labour’s policy of “progressive realism”, which he said meant the government would work within the bounds of international law and seek constructive reform rather than adopt the Conservatives’ selective “pick and mix” approach to treaties and agreements.
He added Labour’s approach to the ECHR was “a rejection of the siren song, that can sadly, now be heard in the Palace of Westminster, not to mention the press, that Britain abandons the constraints of international law in favour of raw power”.
“This is not a new song,” he continued. “The claim that international law is fine as far as it goes, but can be put aside when the conditions change, is a claim that was made in the early 1930s by ‘realist’ jurists in Germany most notably Carl Schmitt, whose central thesis was in essence the claim that state power is all that counts, not law.
“Because of the experience of what followed 1933, far-sighted individuals rebuilt and transformed the institutions of international law, as well as internal constitutional law.”
Mr Schmitt was a vocal critic of parliamentary democracy, and joined the Nazi party in 1933.
The ECHR was created in 1950 after the Second World War, and is intended to protect human rights, enforce the rule of law and promote democracy.
The ECHR was created in 1950 after the Second World War, and is intended to protect human rights, enforce the rule of law and promote democracy.
Mr Farage told The Telegraph: “It is disgraceful that Lord Hermer should compare the growing campaign for national sovereignty and freedom from outdated international courts with 1930s Germany.
“Our national interest is being damaged by dangerous young men crossing the channel and the absurd surrender of the Chagos Islands. Hermer and Starmer are out of touch with the British public and these insults will only strengthen our case. The next general election will see leaving the ECHR at the centre of debate.”
A spokesperson for Ms Badenoch said "it was ironic” that he had said he hoped to “depolarise the debate” and “simultaneously called everyone he disagreed with Nazis”.
Today, in a statement Lord Richard Hermer's spokesman said the peer acknowledged his "choice of words was clumsy" but rejected "the characterisation of his speech by the Conservatives".
Sir Keir has continued to maintain that Britain will not quit the ECHR.