Lord Hermer Accused of Power Grab After ‘Snitch Clause’ Appears in Legal Guidance

Lord Hermer Accused of Power Grab After ‘Snitch Clause’ Appears in Legal Guidance

Lord Hermer, the Attorney General, has come under fire from Conservative figures after newly published legal guidance revealed a series of changes that critics say amount to an “effective veto” over government policy. The revised document, seen by The Telegraph, replaces previous advice issued by Suella Braverman in 2022 and has sparked accusations of centralising legal power at the expense of ministerial authority.

According to the analysis, Lord Hermer’s version of the guidance includes 23 new references to international law and significantly expands the role of government lawyers in scrutinising policy decisions. One of the most controversial additions is a so-called “snitch clause,” which instructs civil service lawyers to report ministers to the Attorney General if they attempt to proceed with actions deemed unlawful. “If it is proposed to proceed with a course of action despite advice that it would be unlawful to do so because it is not supported at least by a tenable legal argument, law officer advice must be sought immediately,” the document states.

This clause and other changes have alarmed senior Conservatives, with Sir Michael Ellis, a former Attorney General, describing them as “another extraordinary overreach by Lord Hermer, who has effectively given himself a veto over all government business.” Ellis added: “It is quite something if ministers of the crown within the same Government cannot be trusted, and have to be snitched on by their own officials.”

Alex Burghart, the shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, went further, calling the guidance a “surrender charter” that enshrines “rule by lawyers” at the heart of government. “Measures like the snitch clause will undermine discussion across government and harm our national interest,” he warned. “Keir Starmer’s Attorney General is putting the partisan views of activist lawyers before the national interest.”

The document instructs lawyers to treat international treaties, such as the Chagos Islands agreement, with the same importance as domestic legislation. It also stresses that breaching international law could lead to “significant consequences, be they legal, political, diplomatic and/or reputational.”

In contrast to Mrs Braverman’s guidance—which emphasised that legal risk rarely justified blocking a policy—Lord Hermer advises government lawyers to assume every ministerial decision could face legal challenge. Braverman’s version had instructed legal advisers not to act as an obstacle to policy-making, urging them to suggest “mitigations” if they had concerns. Those provisions have now been removed.

The guidance also bars the Government from using Parliament to override international agreements, a direct challenge to tactics used by Rishi Sunak’s administration, particularly in its efforts to bypass the European Convention on Human Rights to rescue the Rwanda deportation scheme.

Sir Michael Ellis commented: “I often received advice from lawyers whose opinion was that there was a minimal chance of success and then when the matter was later litigated the Government actually won the case. This is an empire-building charter for a stagnating and internally divided Government.”

Responding to the backlash, a source close to Lord Hermer dismissed the criticism as “desperate nonsense from a Tory party that has lost credibility on law and order and upholding the rule of law.” The source defended the guidance as a tool to help implement policy more efficiently: “It demands lawyers to be creative solution finders, enabling our ambitious plan for change to succeed – unblocking obstacles so that policies are not held up for years in the court as was always the way under the last administration.”

An official spokesperson for the Attorney General echoed that position, saying: “We are getting on with delivering the Plan for Change, from getting NHS waiting lists down, to rolling out free breakfast clubs in primary schools, expanding free school meals, and creating growth, wealth and opportunity for all. Government lawyers advise ministers, but it is always ministers that make decisions on policy as has been the case under successive governments.”

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from Daily Telegraph  2025-07-11