242 British soldiers.
Decades of endless investigation.

The public inquiry led by Sir Thayne Forbes concluded that all the most serious allegations — claims of murder and torture of Iraqi detainees at Camp Abu Naji after the 2004 Battle of Danny Boy — were “wholly without foundation and entirely the product of deliberate lies, reckless speculation and ingrained hostility” towards the British Army. Every British soldier was exonerated of the gravest charges. The inquiry cost the taxpayer approximately £25 million.

Drawing on more than 25,000 pages of contemporaneous emails and documents, The Telegraph reports that Hermer — then at Matrix Chambers, acting on a conditional fee agreement rather than under the cab rank rule — was repeatedly warned of problems with his clients’ accounts and continued to press the case.

In a 2008 email about a draft press release, Hermer is quoted as writing that the proposed wording gave “some wriggle room if the killings did not in fact happen.” On his clients’ credibility, he is reported to have written that it was irrelevant whether his client was “a saint or a member of al-Qaeda.”

Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy has written to the Bar Standards Board, referring Lord Hermer for alleged serious professional misconduct. The letter alleges breaches of the conduct rules on misleading courts, advancing improper claims, and pressing for public money in settlement of allegations known to be false.

Former Attorney General Sir Michael Ellis has said Lord Hermer’s conduct “makes him unfit to be Attorney General.” Brian Wood MC, a Military Cross recipient wrongly accused in the Danny Boy litigation, has publicly called on Lord Hermer to step down.