Sir Keir Starmer has faced further calls to sack his Attorney General, with the Conservatives claiming Lord Richard Hermer thinks “rape is less serious than Twitter comments”.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp argued Lord Hermer should be fired for having “appalling judgment”.
In the Commons, Mr Philp drew a comparison between a man who was given a sentence of 28 months for rape, and Lucy Connolly who received 31 months for inciting racial hatred in the aftermath of the Southport terror attack.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has also said the Prime Minister should sack Lord Hermer, arguing he “believes in the rule of lawyers, not the rule of law”.
This came after Lord Hermer was criticised for a speech in which he appeared to compare calls for the UK to leave international courts with 1930s Germany.
Lord Hermer’s spokesman said the peer regretted his remarks and acknowledged his “choice of words was clumsy”, but rejected “the characterisation of his speech by the Conservatives”.
Speaking during Home Office questions, Mr Philp said: “It emerged yesterday, that the Attorney General, Lord Hermer, chose not to refer a man given just 28 months for rape for a longer sentence under the unduly lenient sentencing scheme, which the Attorney General can do.
“Yet, Lucy Connolly got more prison time for a tasteless tweet. Why does Lord Hermer think rape is less serious than Twitter comments?
“This is two-tier justice in action, and doesn’t this show Lord Hermer has appalling judgment, and the Prime Minister should fire him?”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper replied: “This is from a former policing minister who… under his government, saw the charge rates for rape plummet, saw the charge rates for domestic abuse plummet, and saw the charge rates for crime drop substantially.
“This Government is supporting much stronger action on violence against women and girls because we recognise the serious damage that these crimes do.
“Shamefully, the previous government left us with a shocking legacy on crime, on immigration, across the board. This Government is turning that round.”
Conservative MP Sir Julian Lewis (New Forest East) later said: “The Home Secretary was asked a question about Lord Hermer of Chagos, as perhaps he ought to be known. Why didn’t she answer it? And will she do so now?”
Ms Cooper replied: “Lord Hermer does not decide sentencing. He has a particular role as the Attorney General that (Sir Julian)… as a very experienced member of this House, will know the way in which the system works.”
Sir Keir has previously defended the sentence of Lucy Connolly, who on the day of the murder of three children by Axel Rudakubana in Southport, posted: “Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the bastards for all I care… if that makes me racist so be it.”
At Prime Minister’s Questions last week, Sir Keir said he is “strongly in favour of free speech”, but is “equally against incitement to violence against other people”.
Elsewhere in Home Office questions, Conservative former minister Graham Stuart accused the Government of putting its electoral motives ahead of the needs of victims of grooming gangs.
The MP for Beverley and Holderness said: “Senior figures in the Catholic Church and the Church of England were found to have conspired to cover up child abuse by priests.
“Senior figures in the Labour Party are now opposing local inquiries in places like Bradford, London and Wales, and ministers here oppose a national rape inquiry.
“We’ve also heard from a former member of this House, Simon Danczuk, Labour member of Parliament, that he was told not to raise this issue of the ethnicity of some of the perpetrators.
“When will Labour put aside its electoral interests and stand on the side of the abused?”
MPs from the Labour benches could be heard shouting “shame on you” in response to the question.
Home Office minister Jess Phillips replied: “I think that the idea that I have ever, or in fact the Prime Minister of this country has ever, put anything other than the interests of the victims of grooming gangs at the heart of everything that we have ever worked for, is frankly for the birds.”
Ms Phillips said the number of arrests had increased, adding: “We will continue to pursue these violent, abusive, vicious, abusers through the courts, through justice and I will continue to take my counsel not from him, but from the victims.”
Mr Danczuk stood as a Reform UK candidate in a by-election last year.
