Starmer in talks with Remain case law firm
MPS warn of conflict of interest for shadow Brexit secretary who sits on the privy council
Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, is in talks to become an adviser for the law firm that brought the successful Article 50 case against Theresa May. The Labour MP was warned not to take the job with Mishcon de Reya, which fought the Government on behalf of Gina Miller, the Remain campaigner.
LABOUR’S shadow Brexit secretary is in talks to become an adviser for the law firm that brought the successful Article 50 case against Theresa May, it has emerged. But Sir Keir Starmer has been warned not to take the lucrative job with Mishcon de Reya, which launched the case against the Government on behalf of Gina Miller, the Remain campaigner.
He worked for the firm before Jeremy Corbyn appointed him shadow Brexit secretary last year, earning £4,500 for just six hours work.
Conservative MPS and John Mann, a senior Labour politician, said Sir Keir should turn down the role because as a member of the privy council and a shadow cabinet minister there could be a conflict of interest.
In a public letter James Cleverly said Sir Keir’s access to documents and his role drafting and amending legislation would be in direct conflict with the firm’s work and demanded an urgent clarification of his intentions.
Sir Keir will be free to view controversial and private documents involved with the Brexit negotiations after the Government admitted him to the privy council this year.
He has been offered the chance to work as an adviser in Mischon’s inhouse think tank. There are concerns that his access to such information is inconsistent with working as an adviser for the law firm which has been prominent in taking action against the Government in regards to Brexit.
A spokesman for the firm said: “We are in discussions with Keir Starmer about reappointing him as an adviser to the Mishcon Academy.
“His wide experience and previous association with the firm would enable him to play a key and unique role in shaping the work of the Academy, which leads new thinking and develops the potential of everyone in the firm.”
But Labour MP Mr Mann said: “One job per MP is enough for anybody. He shouldn’t go for it if he is keeping his current position. I don’t see how he would have the time to do both.
“It could become a conflict of interest. You can’t be in the shadow cabinet and have a second job – that’s totally untenable for anybody at any time, no matter who they are.”
Mr Corbyn has previously suggested that MPS should not have a second job while serving in the House of Commons. Labour sources said any appointment would be scrutinised closely to ensure it is appropriate.
Sir Keir was hired by the firm as a consultant to the Mishcon Academy in June 2016, but stood down when he was appointed to the shadow cabinet in October the same year.
The former Director of Public Prosecutions was paid £18,000 for 24 hours work by the firm for his legal advice last year. He earned £4,500 for working six hours work a month. Mischon de Reya successfully challenged the Prime Minister’s claim that she could trigger Article 50 without a vote from MPS and peers.
Supreme Court justices ruled, by a majority of eight to three, that she could not lawfully bypass Parliament by using the royal prerogative to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and start the two-year process of negotiating the UK’S divorce from its EU partners.
Sir Keir was contacted for comment.
This newspaper has never been opposed to politicians taking outside jobs. The idea that Parliamentary activity should be a full-time occupation is a relatively recent one. Backbenchers who have work outside Westminster, whether as doctors, dentists, architects or lawyers, can bring experience of the real world to their deliberations.
However, a problem arises when there is an obvious conflict of interest. MPS are required to declare such a prospect before participating in debates or committee discussions. But what if that conflict involves a senior member of the Opposition front-bench who aspires to be in government and has access on a privileged basis to inside information?
Sir Keir Starmer, the former director of public prosecutions, is Labour’s chief Brexit spokesman and was recently made a Privy Councillor in order that he might be better briefed on the UK’S position during its talks with the EU. Yet it is now being suggested that he is talking to the law firm Mishcon de Reya, for which he once worked, about returning in an advisory and training role. Mishcon has represented both sides in the Brexit debate but is particularly associated with Gina Miller’s challenge to the Government over the triggering of Article 50. It has also advised Arron Banks, the former Ukip donor and staunch Brexiteer.
But Mishcon’s impartiality on Brexit is hardly the point. Any suggestion, however unfair, that Sir Keir might be in a position to vouchsafe the confidential details of the Government’s negotiating position should immediately raise doubts over the wisdom of his discussions with the firm. If he wants to go back to the law then he can always resign his post in the shadow cabinet.