Attorney General Lord Hermer pursued compensation claims against British soldiers on behalf of Iraqi clients despite apparently receiving warnings that their allegations were invented, an investigation has revealed.
More than 25,000 pages of emails and legal documents were obtained showing that one of Sir Keir Starmer‘s closest Cabinet allies served as lead counsel in civil claims against the Ministry of Defence, pressing for substantial payouts for eight Iraqi clients.
Lord Hermer, working on a no-win, no-fee basis and standing to gain significantly if the claims succeeded, later reportedly maintained it was irrelevant whether his clients were “a saint or a member of al-Qaeda” when bringing human rights cases against British troops.
What were the allegations against British troops?
The compensation case arose from claims by Iraqis who alleged British forces had tortured and executed civilians following the Battle of Danny Boy in southern Iraq in 2004. Those making the claims portrayed themselves as blameless civilians — farmers and labourers who had simply found themselves in the wrong place during the conflict.
The £31million Al-Sweady public inquiry, which examined the accusations after years of investigation, found they amounted to “deliberate lies” driven by “ingrained hostility” towards the British Army. The claimants were subsequently identified as members of the Mahdi Army — an Islamist insurgent group backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Were accused British soldiers found guilty?
British troops were fully exonerated in 2014. The scandal triggered disciplinary proceedings against several human rights lawyers. Solicitor Phil Shiner, who had collaborated with Lord Hermer on the case, was removed from the legal register and subsequently convicted of fraud.
Lance Corporal Brian Wood, a Military Cross recipient falsely accused of war crimes by Lord Hermer’s clients, has demanded the Attorney General resign.
“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,” Mr Wood is reported to have said.
What are lawyers and military figures saying about Lord Hermer?
Hilary Meredith, who represented soldiers wrongly accused over the Danny Boy incident, called on the Bar Standards Board to investigate Lord Hermer’s conduct, describing it as “the worst case ever of soldiers, who had fought so bravely in that battle, being dragged through the mud for years.”
General Sir Peter Wall, the former Army chief who commanded UK forces in Basra, said the orchestrated claims against British troops at Danny Boy were “tantamount to treason.”
The emails, which were obtained by The Telegraph, indicate Lord Hermer was advising solicitors on how to handle media coverage of the case, even as he privately harboured doubts about whether the underlying allegations were true.
He appears to have suggested the legal team needed “wriggle room if the killings did not in fact happen” and asked whether press materials should be “slightly more explicit” about execution allegations “in order to generate sufficient interest.” The context of the exchange is unclear, according to the report.
The Express understands, fellow solicitor Martyn Day wrote to Phil Shiner asking whether they should “up the ante”, with Shiner reportedly responding: “Richard is right, so let’s up the ante.”
By March 2013, Day — who was cleared of any wrongdoing in 2017 — reportedly told Lord Hermer it was “odds-on likely” the claims would be exposed as “nonsense” and allegedly described the Iraqi clients in private as “lying Bs.” Despite this, Lord Hermer allegedly continued pushing for settlement offers of £45,000 to £55,000 per claimant, advising it would be “low risk.”
What does Lord Hermer say?
A spokesman for Lord Hermer rejected the claims, saying he “did a small amount of work at the start of this case, where he made clear that serious allegations at the time needed further investigation.”
“He always acted with the highest professional standards and the suggestion he acted for individuals with the knowledge that their claims were false is categorically untrue,” the spokesman added.
“The Attorney argued it would be unfair on armed services personnel if they didn’t have the opportunity to show their innocence through a proper investigation.”
On the civil claims specifically, the spokesman said “the Attorney General had minimal involvement in the Al-Sweady claims, limited to a small number of hours between 2008 and 2013.”
On Phil Shiner, the spokesman said: “As soon as the SRA case was brought forward, the Attorney General was clear in his condemnation for the reprehensible behaviour of Mr Shiner, that rightly led to him being disqualified and successfully prosecuted.”
The Express has approached Lord Hermer for further comment.
Who is Lord Hermer?
Lord Hermer was elevated to the House of Lords by Sir Keir Starmer specifically to serve as Attorney General, chosen ahead of Dame Emily Thornberry, who had held the shadow brief.
Since taking office he has played a central role in negotiations to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius — a decision that has strained diplomatic relations with Donald Trump.