Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to sack Lord Hermer after it was revealed his under-fire Attorney General personally signed off the prosecution of Lucy Connolly.
Connolly was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison after pleading guilty to stirring up racial hatred following a social media post in the wake of the Southport killings last year.
In a since-deleted tweet, Connolly called for mass deportations and said she would not care if rioters set fire to migrant hotels.
Despite her social media post being widely condemned, the Northamptonshire childminder’s lengthy sentence resulted in senior politicians demanding her release.
Attorney General’s Office Confirms Lord Hermer’s Role
In a dramatic twist that has intensified calls for the Prime Minister to act, the Attorney General’s office confirmed the 42-year-old prosecution was approved by Lord Hermer.
The revelation comes at a particularly difficult time for the embattled law officer, who just days earlier sparked fury for comparing critics of the European Convention on Human Rights to Nazis in a speech that he later admitted used “clumsy” wording.
Senior Conservatives Demand Action
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has renewed calls for the Prime Minister to sack his close ally, stating: “His judgment is a national embarrassment. After Southport, facts were buried while ministers ranted about far-right thugs”.
She added: “Starmer should sack Hermer, or admit he’s not really in charge. It speaks volumes that our Attorney General is content to keep people like Lucy Connolly behind bars for a tweet as violent criminals are released early.
Reform UK Joins Criticism
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage weighed in, saying: “Lord Hermer sums up Starmer’s Government. A group of detached two-tier human right lawyers. No wonder the public have given up on them all”.
The Lucy Connolly Case
Lucy Connolly, a 41-year-old childminder and wife of a former Conservative councillor from Northampton, posted the inflammatory tweet on July 29, 2024, just hours after three young girls were murdered in Southport.
The text of the tweet was: “Mass deportation now. Set fire to all the fucking hotels full of the bastards for all I care. While you’re at it, take the treacherous government and politicians with them. I feel physically sick knowing what these families will now have to endure. If that makes me racist, so be it”.
The tweet was viewed 310,000 times and reposted 940 times before it was taken down three and a half hours later.
Legal Requirements and Sentencing
Prosecutions under S.19 require the consent of the Attorney General, which means Lord Hermer had the power to prevent the prosecution from proceeding.
Connolly was charged under Section 19 of the Public Order Act 1986, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment.
She pleaded guilty in September 2024 and was sentenced to 31 months (two years and seven months) in October 2024.
Failed Appeal
The Court of Appeal has refused to reduce Lucy Connolly’s 31-month prison sentence following an appeal heard in May 2025.
Her legal team had argued that she had received inadequate legal advice and that mitigating factors, including the death of her 19-month-old son following a hospital error, had not been given sufficient weight.
Ex-Attorney General: ‘I Would Not Have Prosecuted’
Former Attorney General Suella Braverman added her voice to the criticism, declaring: “Lucy Connolly should never have been prosecuted, and should now be freed from prison. The charges brought against her were not in the public interest, and if I was attorney general I would not have granted consent to prosecute”.
She continued: “The CPS has a woeful track record of prosecuting rapists and domestic abusers, yet the Attorney General considered Lucy’s Twitter post sufficiently serious to justify prosecution.
Lord Hermer Under Fire on Multiple Fronts
The Lucy Connolly revelation adds to mounting pressure on Lord Hermer, who has faced criticism on several fronts since his appointment as the UK’s first Attorney General in over a century not to have served in Parliament.
Earlier this week, he was forced to issue an apology after comparing political threats to leave the ECHR to the Nazis during a speech to the Royal Institute for International Affairs (RUSI) defence think tank.
Lord Hermer has also faced questions about potential conflicts of interest regarding his former legal clients, including asylum seekers from the Chagos Islands and Gerry Adams.
Government Response
A spokesman for the Attorney General defended Lord Hermer, saying: “The Attorney General gave a speech defending international law which underpins our security, protects against threats from aggressive states like Russia and helps tackle organised immigration crime.
The Prime Minister has so far resisted calls to sack his Attorney General, with Lord Hermer retaining the Prime Minister’s support earlier this week after comparing ECHR critics to Nazis.
As pressure mounts from opposition parties and critics who claim the case exemplifies “two-tier justice” in Britain, all eyes are now on Downing Street to see whether Sir Keir Starmer will continue to stand by his embattled law chief.
1 comment
It’s like the Mafia . The top people are giving all the instructions. I wonder who told him to sign it off.
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