MPs say Attorney General's role needs to be split

by Dave Keating | June 24, 2008 at 12:08 am

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A committee of MPs have called Gordon Brown's plans to shake up the role of attorney general 'inadequate and pointless.'

A committee of MPs called on Tuesday for the political and legal roles performed by the Attorney General to be split, saying the government's reform proposals did not go far enough in restoring public confidence.

The job of the Attorney General, the government's top lawyer, has been called into question following a number of high profile cases where critics said the dual role of minister and legal adviser had come into conflict.

The advice given by former Attorney General Lord Goldsmith on the legality of the Iraq war and the decision to order the Serious Fraud Office to end its probe into an arms deal between BAE Systems and Saudi Arabia led to calls for an overhaul.