Attorney General Lord Hermer accused of ripping up the rulebook by not revealing past earnings

THE ATTORNEY General was last night accused of ripping up the rulebook by failing to reveal past earnings.

Lord Hermer KC, a former barrister, has kept his finances secret since Sir Keir Starmer handed him the government’s top legal job in July.

Ministers usually disclose payments received after taking office, but the Attorney General’s office insisted he doesn’t have to.

Ex-law chiefs Sir Michael Ellis and Sir Robert Buckland said they believe this is “irregular and clear break from “normal practice”.

Mr Ellis said: “This seems to me to be an extraordinary and highly irregular situation.

“Previous barristers in Parliament, including Sir Keir Starmer himself, have made these disclosures.”

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick has written to the Lords’ standards commissioner demanding an investigation, accusing Lord Hermer of hypocrisy.

He said: “This attorney general is breaking with convention, and the public will understandably be asking: what is he hiding?”

Lord Hermer has been at the centre of a row over conflicts of interest linked to his past legal work.

This week, he admitted recusing himself from some cases but wouldn’t say which ones.