GB News host Ben Leo slapped down Baron George Foulkes’s “despicable” defence of Lord Hermer after the Attorney General compared calls to ditch the ECHR to 1930s Germany.
In a speech delivered last week at the Royal United Services Institute think tank, Lord Hermer criticised politicians who argue the UK should abandon “the constraints of international law in favour of raw power”.
The Labour peer said similar claims had been made by legal theorists in Germany in the years before the Nazis came to power.
Expressing “regret” over the remarks, Lord Hermer’s spokesman acknowledged that his choice of words and reference was “clumsy”.
Ben Leo and Lord George Foulkes clashed over Lord Hermer’s ‘despicable’ remarks
GB News
Discussing the remarks on GB News, Foulkes claimed that Lord Hermer “didn’t say” what was being claimed in the media, and said his only mistake was “not choosing his words more carefully”.
Foulkes explained: “What he said was that just as in the Germany in the 1930s, I think it was Carl Schmitt who suggested that there was a sort of a pressure on one side for powerful government, and on the other side, the rule of law, and the rule of law needs to be taken account of.
“And he was saying that people who wanted to leave the European Convention of Human Rights and the Court of Human Rights are making the same kind of argument that Germany did in the 1930s.”
Hitting back at Foulkes, Ben interjected, asking the Labour peer: “Do you not agree it’s a despicable comparison? It was just smearing millions and millions of hard-working, decent, honest Brits?”
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Lord Hermer compared calls for the UK to depart from international law and arguments made in 1930s Germany
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In complete disagreement with Ben, Foulkes declared: “No, it certainly wasn’t.”
Pressing Foulkes again, Ben said: “So you don’t think he did anything wrong Lord Foulkes?”
Foulkes responded: “The only thing he did was that he didn’t choose his words carefully. He said they were a bit clumsily chosen, but he’s absolutely right.
“We are looking at the rule of law now in the Constitution Committee of the House of Lords, and it’s very, very important. Do you believe in the rule of law, Ben?”
The GB News host hit back, launching a furious tirade: “I’ll tell you what I believe in, the rule of British law. I believe Parliament is sovereign, and I believe nations should be able to run their own affairs without the meddling of international courts who nobody knows.
“You said Lord Hermer was clumsy, but yet you agree with what he said. How was it clumsy when it was a pre-prepared, pre-written speech that I suspect he probably took a couple of hours to write and then reread? He’s not an idiot, he’s quite an intelligent guy, and then he delivered it. It wasn’t some off the cuff remark?”
Lord Foulkes was criticised by Ben Leo after defended Lord Hermer’s remarks
GB News
Attempting to offer examples of other political figures who “need to apologise”, Foulkes responded: “He apologised for the choice of words, and a lot of people make that mistake. Liz Truss every day is making a lot of nonsensical remarks, she should be apologising every day. Boris Johnson should be apologising every day.”
Interjecting Foulkes, Ben exclaimed: “What’s Liz Truss got to do with anything? With respect, they’ve got absolutely nothing to do with this. This is the Attorney General, Keir Starmer’s friend, his best mate from north London.
“You want to talk about your party calling people Nazis, Keir Starmer in January said that the Pakistani grooming gang scandal was a right-wing bandwagon, then you had MP Andrew Gwynne saying he wished his constituents would die because they dared ask about bin collections. You’ve got a problem in your party, haven’t you, Lord Foulkes?”
Standing firm on his argument, Foulkes concluded: “No, we certainly haven’t, because your reporting is not accurate. Keir Starmer is doing a very good job, an exceptionally good job, and he’s now respected throughout the world.”
