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Home Secretary Priti Patel ignored warnings from at least two high-level colleagues to stop attacking immigration lawyers after a man with a knife threatened to kill a lawyer last month in an attack linked to his rhetoric, Observer can reveal.
Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland and Attorney General Suella Braverman intervened after the attack to tell Patel that his goal of the legal profession was believed to have already inspired an incident that could have left a lawyer dead.
The two called on Patel to stop his attacks on the legal profession, warning that more violence could materialize after the September 7 incident, when a man walked into a London law firm armed with a “big, sturdy knife” and boarded. in an attack ”that injured a staff member before the assailant was overwhelmed.
However, Patel ignored the pleas of his two leading colleagues and, during his speech at the Conservative party conference on October 4, stepped up his attacks on “benefactors” and “left-handed lawyers.” Two days later, Boris Johnson went even further, telling the annual conservative conference that the criminal justice system was “being paralyzed by leftist human rights lawyers.”
Downing Street on Friday night refused to answer questions from the Observer about what Johnson knew about the attack, Patel’s supposed role in inspiring him, and, if he did, why he felt comfortable risking further attacks on lawyers.
Legal sources have confirmed that the first requests by fellow ministers to Patel to desist came two days after the knife attack, when Bar Council and Law Society officials contacted Buckland and Braverman to convey their concerns and tell Patel that their rhetoric anti-lawyer needed. to stop.
“The message was please help us, this cannot continue. Talk to the Secretary of the Interior and tell her not to continue with this because it puts people’s lives at risk. They also specifically told the Interior Ministry that this is really serious, “said the source.
The Lord Chancellor is said to be particularly disturbed by Patel’s rhetoric. On Wednesday, at David Greene’s inauguration as the 176th president of the Law Society of England and Wales, Buckland staunchly defended the legal profession and launched a thinly veiled attack on Patel’s trial.
“No one should be vilified for doing their job, whether we are public servants or professionals in private practice,” said Buckland.
He added: “Lawyers play an important role in upholding the law, representing their clients – and their sometimes political views – and ensuring that people have access to justice. I and this government are absolutely clear that any form of violence or abuse against lawyers is absolutely unacceptable. “
On Friday night, Greene told the Observer: “We have made our position clear to the government and we will continue to do so on behalf of members and on behalf of the public in terms of the rule of law.”
Meanwhile, political pressure continues to mount on Patel’s conduct in office. Stuart McDonald, SNP spokesman on immigration, asylum and border control, has raised a series of questions about why the Home Secretary appears to have ignored statements about the use of the phrase “activist lawyers” and its implications for the security of members of the profession. .
One of the questions is whether Patel, Buckland or Braverman told the prime minister “about any representation received from professional legal bodies regarding rhetoric directed at lawyers” prior to Johnson’s conference speech.
The attack on the law firm came days after Patel claimed that “activist lawyers” thwarted the expulsion of migrants. It was this choice of language that the documents provided by the law firm in question believe led to the attack, stating that: “Responsibility and accountability for this attack, in the eyes of this firm, lies squarely on the feet. by Priti Patel “.
A 28-year-old man has been charged with possession and threats with a sharp article in a public place; racially aggravated public disorder; assault; and death threats in connection with the September 7 attack.
