The Bar Council came under fire last night after it attacked Rishi Sunak for criticising bent migration lawyers exposed by the Mail.
The Prime Minister yesterday seized on our damning undercover investigation into the activities of unscrupulous individuals charging thousands of pounds to submit false asylum claims for illegal immigrants.
'This is what we're up against,' he said. 'The Labour Party, a subset of lawyers, criminal gangs – they're all on the same side, propping up a system of exploitation that profits from getting people to the UK illegally. I have a plan to stop it.'
His intervention drew angry responses from both Labour and the Bar Council, which represents barristers. The legal body, which opposed the Government's Illegal Migration Bill, acknowledged that 'all professions have individuals who commit misconduct and are dishonest'.
But vice-chairman Sam Townend KC accused the PM of 'playing politics with the legal profession'. He added: 'This damaging rhetoric undermines the rule of law, trust in lawyers and confidence in the legal system and is to be deplored.'
It emerged last night that Mr Townend is a former Labour councillor in Lambeth, south London, and has twice stood unsuccessfully to be a Labour MP.
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