Lord Hermer, the Attorney General, pursued a “witch hunt” against British troops which left decorated war heroes facing false accusations of murder and torture, despite being warned that the allegations were lies. The Telegraph, which uncovered the story in an investigation, has more.
An investigation by [the Telegraph] can reveal the Attorney General’s leading role in the Al-Sweady scandal, which left decorated war heroes facing false accusations of murder and torture for more than a decade.
Emails and legal documents show that Sir Keir Starmer’s closest Cabinet ally acted as lead counsel in civil claims against the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and pressed for lucrative compensation despite mounting evidence that his eight Iraqi clients were “on the make”.
The Attorney General later insisted that it made no difference whether his clients were “a saint or a member of al-Qaeda” while suing British troops under human rights laws.
One leading lawyer has now called for Lord Hermer to face a misconduct investigation over his part in the scandal, while a former head of the Army said his role was tantamount to “treason”.
The compensation case centred on claims brought by Iraqis who alleged that British troops had tortured and executed civilians after the Battle of Danny Boy in southern Iraq in 2004.
But after years of investigations, the £31 million Al-Sweady public inquiry ruled that the allegations were “deliberate lies” driven by “ingrained hostility” towards the British Army.
Lord Hermer’s clients had claimed to be innocent farmers and labourers, but they were instead revealed to be members of the Mahdi Army – an Islamist insurgent group backed by Iran’s hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The British troops were fully exonerated in 2014, and the scandal led to disciplinary investigations into a number of human rights lawyers, including the disgraced solicitor Phil Shiner, who was struck off and later convicted of fraud.
The Telegraph has obtained more than 25,000 pages of documents revealing Lord Hermer’s involvement in the case for nearly a decade.
Working closely alongside Shiner and leading human rights solicitor Martyn Day, Lord Hermer attempted to secure taxpayer-funded settlements before the Iraqis’ lies could be exposed at the Al-Sweady inquiry.
By then, he had already been warned that his clients could be exposed as “on the make” and that their allegations were “nonsense”.
Worth reading in full.
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Instinctively, this seems repellent: No upright British man should ever take such a cause of action without a very good reason which was lacking here. But this may be due to the framing of the Telegraph article which was obviously written by Hermer’s political enemies.
A more neutral description would be: He was working as lawyer for Iraqi clients because he expected to get paid for that (and probably, got paid for it). That their claims turned out to be wrong was neither his fault nor his business. He was just representing them as law expert. That’s the reason why people tend to dislike lawyers and I think this kind of morale blindness for a fee is a good reason to dislike people. But what Hermer did was no worse than what most of his colleagues would have done as well and he was obviously cleared by the investigation mentioned in the article or not part of it at all.
I think such people shouldn’t end up in politics because I consider them unsuitable for that and Hermer’s track record in office demonstrates this in my opinion. However, the people who voted for Labour obviously see this differently and in… Read more »
I would happily chip in to a crowd fund to get Hermer struck off – I have yet to hear one good thing about him
Both Starmer and Hermer take the attitude that the rules both the Human Rights Act and International Law must be applied at all costs. Rather like Colonel Blimp in A Matter of life and death. “War starts at midnight”. At least the Colonel was on our side, however wrong in his judgement. These two are not. In another quote from the film, updated to the current situation – “Dear old Clive – this is not a gentleman’s war. This time you’re fighting for your very existence against the most devilish idea ever created by a human brain – Islamist Extremism. And if you lose, there won’t be a return match next year… perhaps not even for a hundred years.”. Only Trump appears to have grasped the importance of acting now.
I don’t think it was A Matter of Life and Death, which was David Niven as a bomber pilot, and a masterpiece in its own right. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp sounds more like it.
Jon you are correct, I wrote this very early am and did not have my film name head in gear.
There are no Words …. !
Well there are but they’ll get you chucked off the platform!
That’s what I thought 👍
What an obnoxious P.O.S. he is.
Well done to the Telegraph for this superb example of investigative journalism! For those without access to the paywalled Telegraph, here is a free version of the article:
Exclusive: Hermer pursued ‘witch hunt’ against troops despite warnings
” L/Cpl Brian Wood, who was decorated with the Military Cross but later found himself falsely accused of war crimes by Lord Hermer’s clients, called on the Attorney General to resign.”
“He said: “I have gone through hell for years. It’s disgusting that Hermer is Attorney General. He pursued us in a witch hunt and yet is now the senior lawyer in Government. That is just wrong … HE WAS REPRESENTING THE PEOPLE TRYING TO KILL US.”
General Sir Peter Wall was right to say that Hermer’s actions were “tantamount to treason”. Both Hermer & Starmer should be arrested and charged with treason, along with Hilary Benn and Gerry Adams in Northern Ireland, Starmer’s Troubles Bill thrown out, and Boris Johnson’s Legacy Act restored in full.
I completely agree with the sentiment, however, a lawyer is just a hired law-gun. If these people-trying-to-kill-someone were entitled to hire British lawyers to represent them, Hermer was entitled to let himself be hired by them.
He’s now a politician with a government office because the Labour leader appointed him and if you think that’s repellent (I certainly do), don’t vote Labour (I couldn’t but certainly wouldn’t if I could).
Starmer’s war on our military.
Following CCPs orders.
Everything Labour does benefits the Cninese.
Ask yourself too: why did Starmer break the rules to put Mandelson in post?
I’m convinced the Chinese told him to, wanting a compromised agent at the heart of the UK/US intel hub.
Also the Chagos saga, the approval of the Chinese embassy, and Miliband’s recent trip to China and his refusal to divulge details of the deal he made. There’s a theme here.
What a bunch of utter shysters this lot are…..The man has to resign…..he can now no longer be allowed to take a penny more from taxpayers.
If by chance we ever get a decent government in the UK there will be a proper enquiry into these people. I won’t hold my breath because it does seem that the political class are beyond redemption!
Seeing the details set out like this is shocking but we have known this in general terms for many years. The Blair legislation and imaginative ECHR invention of new laws has been a godsend for the left.
Left wing human rights lawyers have made a fortune pursuing troops while simultaneously undermining the forces. A double win for them.
And another fortune defending illegal immigrants. They genuinely are traitors.
Of course he did.
Every time i see a headline with his name in it, i am always disappointed.
Maybe some day there’ll be a new headline, such as:
“Starmer & Hermer convicted of treason, sentenced to 25 years, all their assets seized to pay compensation to the veterans they betrayed and tried to destroy”
Death by firing squad. No shortage of volunteers to pull the trigger.
Meanwhile, in Australia… I ask myself, why?
https://nominister.wordpress.com/2026/04/22/the-inevitable-result-of-backstabbing-politicians/
Honestly, I don’t understand it. These people are pen pushers, they’re not fighters. And the pen is mightier than the sword only as much as the sword allows it be. I do wonder if the cult of Marxist Feminism (in their quieter moments – away from other Marxist feminists) wonder where the f*ck the sword has gone.