MPs' attacks on judges a threat to rule of law - attorney general

Political attacks on judges are "dangerous" and "a huge threat to the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary", the attorney general has said in a direct rebuke to the shadow justice secretary.

- Eleni Courea

Richard Hermer said politics was entering a "dangerous moment" where politicians were "attacking judges on a personal basis" on the floor of the Commons.

His intervention came after Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, criticised a senior judge in the Commons on Tuesday. Jenrick called for Lord Justice Davis, the head of the Sentencing Council for England and Wales, to be sacked amid a row over new sentencing guidelines.

Speaking to parliament's joint committee on human rights, Hermer said that "we are entering a dangerous moment in which not simply on social media but indeed on the floor of the House of Commons, people are attacking judges on a personal basis.