Former Attorney General condemns 'vitriolic' attacks on Brexit judges

Dominic Grieve says Theresa May should do more than say she believes in freedom of the press

The former Attorney General has called on Theresa May to disassociate herself with newspapers’ “vitriolic” attack on the judiciary for backing greater parliamentary scrutiny of Brexit.

Senior Conservative MP Dominic Grieve said it was not good enough for Ms May and other government ministers to stand back after three High Court judges were branded “enemies of the people” by newspapers such as the Daily Mail.

The paper accused the Lord Chief Justice and two other senior judges of declaring “war on democracy” after they ruled that the Government must get the approval of Parliament before triggering Article 50 – which formally starts the process to leave the European Union.

He told the Guardian: “It is the duty of parliamentarians to stand up for the independence of the judiciary, and my complaint about the government over this matter was that it simply said we believe in the independence of the judiciary and we believe in the independence of the press.

“Well, I believe in the freedom of the press as well but that doesn’t mean to say I’m neutral to the way in which the press expresses itself. And seeing that the government was a party to this litigation I think it was particularly important that it should disassociate itself completely from the sort of sentiments being expressed by the Daily Mail.”

The Beaconsfield MP, who backed the Remain side during the EU referendum, said judges were human beings who were capable of making mistakes so it was “perfectly legitimate” to criticise them but what was “outrageous about the Daily Mail coverage is it was mere vitriolic abuse”.

How four newspapers – the Daily Mail, The Sun, Daily Express and The Daily Telegraph – reported the High Court Brexit ruling

He added that he found it “worrying” that the newspaper “appears to believe in British values” but attacked the judges for “doing exactly what is required of them in our constitutional set up”.

It comes as the Supreme Court is hearing the Government’s appeal against the High Court decision.

Lawyers acting for the Government have argued it has the authority to trigger Article 50 on its own as does not need parliamentary consent on matters of foreign policy but lawyers acting for Gina Miller and Deir Dos Santos, who brought the claim to the High Court, say the Government cannot take away British citizens’ rights without the consent of parliament.

Meanwhile, Ms Miller said she was no longer able to travel on public transport due to the abuse she had suffered since the High Court ruling.

She said she no longer left the house and had received death threats.

On Wednesday, a 55-year-old man was arrested in Swindon on suspicion of racially-aggravated malicious communications.

A spokesman for the London Metropolitan police said they had also issued a “cease and desist” notice to a 38-year-old man from Fife in Scotland.