Attorney General '50/50' on Brexit

Jeremy Wright QC MP concerned the prime minister's deal may not go 'far enough'

The UK's most senior legal officer is said to be '50/50' on whether Britain should stay in the EU, a government source has told The Telegraph.

Jeremy Wright QC MP is apparently concerned about the growing influence of European courts and is worried that the prime minister's deal negotiated with EU leaders may not go 'far enough'.

A government minister told The Telegraph: 'It is perfectly feasible that this is a legally enforceable agreement but doesn't go far enough. If he doesn't think it's a good enough deal he will vote to leave.

'At the moment he is undecided; he is conscious that this is not the final deal yet and major changes one way or another could swing his decision. He is 50/50.

'He also has significant concerns about the influence of the European courts. There is a question of whether Britain needs to pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights entirely.'

As the paper highlights, Wright's opinion will be significant as he must provide advice to David Cameron over the legal implications of any deal that is struck.

The Telegraph confirmed that the attorney general declined to comment.

In an exclusive interview in the latest issue of SJ, the attorney general said he expected to spend time answering questions about the legality of any settlement the prime minister reaches in Brussels set to begin this week.

'The first questions asked will be "is this genuinely legally binding?" and "is it a lawful agreement under international law?" There will then be a referendum campaign and most of the questions won't be legal, they will be political,' said Wright.

'If the vote is to extricate ourselves from the EU there will be a period of time during which there
will be all kinds of legal challenges. But the first imminent challenge is to ask: "What does the deal that has been done really mean in terms of its legal effect?" Those are the questions we will be working on first.'

Speaking about the justice secretary's recent climb down on the UK's commitment to the European Convention on Human Rights, Wright told SJ: 'What we do know is that it's not the government's intention to leave the convention. There are people who would argue that it's right to leave.

'I have no doubt that in this area of policy someone was always going to be disappointed by what we put forward. Let's wait and see what comes out but I don't think what Michael has said is in any way inconsistent with that.'

To read the our exclusive interview with Jeremy Wright QC and to start your free Solicitors Journal two-week trial, visit www.solicitorsjournal.com/user/register.

John van der Luit-Drummond is deputy editor for Solicitors Journal john.vanderluit@solicitorsjournal.co.uk | @JvdLD