A LABOUR minister and close ally of Keir Starmer has backed down after drawing a parallel between calls to ignore international law from within both Westminster and the UK media to the rise of Nazi Germany.
Richard Hermer KC, who is Attorney General is the UK Government’s top legal officer, made the comparisons during a speech at the Royal United Services Institute on Thursday.
Speaking about the “role of the law and the international rules-based order”, Hermer said Labour’s approach was the “rejection of the siren song, that can sadly, now be heard in the Palace of Westminster, and in some spectrums of the media, that Britain abandons the constraints of international law in favour of raw power”.
He went on: “This is not a new song. The claim that international law is fine as far as it goes, but can be put aside when 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 in 1933, far-sighted individuals rebuilt and transformed the institutions of international law, as well as internal constitutional law.”
Schmitt was a prominent Nazi theorist and supported the rise of Adolf Hitler during the 1930s.
Hermer’s words have been widely read as an attack on Nigel Farage and Reform UK, although prominent Conservatives have also openly called for the UK to retreat from international legal agreements such as the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Farage has said he would get rid of the ECHR, and told ITV in April that “we have to get back the ability to decide, can we really control our borders”.
Right-wing UK newspapers and media outlets have also supported calls to leave the ECHR.
On Friday, Hermer’s spokesperson said the Labour minister regretted making the comparison to Nazi Germany.
“The Attorney General gave a speech defending international law, which underpins our security, protects against threats from aggressive states like Russia and helps tackle organised immigration crime,” they said.
“He rejects the characterisation of his speech by the Conservatives. He acknowledges, though, that his choice of words was clumsy and regrets having used this reference.”
