Sands has a Jewish background, as do Hermer and the Justice Minister Sarah Sackman. Parts of North London have traditionally been home to a high proportion of the capital’s Jewish population. Starmer’s parliamentary constituency is also in North London.
A Conservative spokesman said of Sands’ remarks: “This is an absurd smear.”
They added that Labour’s “desperate surrender” of the Chagos Islands “made clear that the prime minister and his left-wing friends are more concerned with being human rights lawyers than standing up for Britain and our national interest.”
Sands, who is professor of laws at University College London, further criticized the Tories for appearing to take sides with Donald Trump, accusing them of scoffing at international law and multilateral institutions.
“You really want cross-party support in forging a position,” he said, “because this is a fundamental challenge to the place of the United Kingdom in the world.”
Instead, he argued, “the Conservative Party seems to have turned its back on its own accomplishments,” citing the post-1945 settlement which was carved out by Winston Churchill, and Margaret Thatcher’s 1990 speech identifying the threat from climate change.
Starmer and Hermer have both been accused in recent months of letting their respective backgrounds as high-profile lawyers cloud their political judgment.
In particular, opponents claim they are in thrall to a “Matrix Chambers mindset” which pursues a progressive approach to international law above Britain’s national interests.