Attorney General’s Office: Conflicts of Interest

Lord Garnier Excerpts

Monday 27th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hermer (Lab)]

It is my understanding that the same rigorous process has been applied to me and my fellow law officers as was applied previously under Governments of all different colours. As to pre-existing experience, Parliament and various Governments have been lucky to enjoy the assistance of lawyers with a range of experience of public, commercial and criminal law. I anticipate that the same rigour has been applied to identify conflicts for all of them.

[Lord Garnier (Con)]

My Lords, I am not sure whether the Government I served thought it was an advantage to have me in office, but there you are: I was once a law officer. The convention is that a law officer should not disclose his work in such a way as to embarrass his client. The client in his case is—and in my case was—the Government. The Prime Minister could release him from that convention if he thought it appropriate. Has he asked him to help him?