Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 20 May 2022 to Question 2413, on Northern Ireland Protocol: Legal Opinion, whether she has asked the Prime Minister to initiate an investigation into how the fact and content of her advice on the Northern Ireland Protocol came to be reported in the media on 11 May 2022; and whether that reporting constituted a breach of paragraph 2.13 of the Ministerial Code.

It would not be appropriate to comment on this media speculation. It is a longstanding convention, accepted by governments of all parties, not to disclose whether the Law Officers have given legal advice or the contents of any advice. This convention protects the Law Officers’ ability to give full and frank legal advice on some of the most contentious and difficult issues the Government will be considering.