Daily Mail

How lawyer who advised her attacked Tories and called Boris ‘dangerous’

- By Tom Witherow Senior Political Correspond­ent

A LAWYER appointed to advise Sue Gray on her Partygate probe accused the Tories of ‘serving up bile’ and reposted a message online branding Boris Johnson a ‘reckless dangerous PM’.

Daniel Stilitz KC, who was a Labour member until 019, was forced to delete his Twitter account after posts were uncovered urging his followers to join the party. The barrister, 54, said Labour MPs backing a Brexit deal were ‘mugs’ and also wrote: ‘Why not join Labour? Now seems as good a time as any.’

Commenting on Brexit in 019, he said: ‘The future of the UK is collateral damage in this mad Tory fight to the death.’

In another post on EU negotiatio­ns, he wrote: ‘A salutary warning for Labour MPs considerin­g backing the deal: if you trust Johnson, you’re a mug.’

The comments led several Tories to question why the Remain-supporting barrister had been given such a politicall­y sensitive post advising Ms Gray.

Mr Stilitz was educated at William Ellis School in Hampstead, north London, and graduated from New College, Oxford, with a degree in politics, philosophy and economics in 1990.

He had two sons and a daughter with his first wife and remarried in 019.

He was called to the Bar in 199 , took silk in 010 and has represente­d government department­s, Goldman Sachs and football manager Jose Mourinho.

When he deleted his Twitter account in April last year, the Cabinet Office defended Ms Gray’s report, saying: ‘Independen­t

advice was provided by the Treasury solicitor and Daniel Stilitz.

‘He is bound by the code of conduct which sets out that all barristers maintain their independen­ce and act in the best interests of their client.’

 ?? ?? Brexit rants: Barrister Daniel Stilitz
Brexit rants: Barrister Daniel Stilitz

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