England: Lord Falconer calls for Truss to be replaced

A former Lord Chancellor has called on the incumbent to be replaced over her handling of the Brexit debacle.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton QC has written to The Times to say Liz Truss should be fired from her post given her “lukewarm” response to public criticism of the judiciary.

The former Labour Lord Chancellor wrote that the judiciary should be confident its independence will be protected by the government of the day against media campaigns.

But, he states, “That did not happen. No 10 refused to defend them despite being repeatedly invited to do so, and the Lord Chancellor has still not defended the three judges.

“The most striking failure is the silence of the Lord Chancellor. It signals to the judges that they have lost their constitutional protector. Until she is replaced by someone willing and brave enough to do the job the judges should rightly fear for their independence.”

Lord Falconer’s criticism comes as two other distinguished lawyers, Lord Judge and Sir Geoffrey Bindman QC, voiced their disapproval with Ms Truss’ handling of the situation.

Sir Geoffrey attributed what he regarded as her poor performance to a “fault” in the system which has “paved the way for a succession of inadequately qualified appointees”.