Neo-Nazi barrister Ian Millard is disbarred by tribunal for antisemitic tweets

Neo-Nazi barrister Ian Millard was banned from the profession yesterday by the Bar Standards Board over his antisemitic tweets.

A five-person disciplinary tribunal of the Bar Standards Board convened in London yesterday and found Millard to be guilty of professional misconduct due to his extensive use of Twitter as a vehicle to publicise his extreme right-wing views.

A cursory glance at his timeline reveals that most of his racism is directed at Jews. Seven tweets from November 2014 formed the basis of the complaint against him. Five of these were overtly antisemitic, including:

• “Pro-Zionist, pro-Jew expenses cheat Michael Gove, now diminished shrunk to his true level (2 inches off the ground). Liar.”
• In reference to former French President, Nicholas Sarkozy: “@HeretoWhiteMan thank you. When one looks at that little Jew, one has to wonder what the French people saw in him, as he gesticulates etc.”
• In reference to former co-chairman of the Conservative Party: “A million British people forced to use foodbanks and all the Jew Shapps can say is to parrot a list of hackneyed propaganda phrases.”
• “Strange seeing Dominic Grieve, who reminds me of the days when many/most Conservative MPs were English gentlemen, not Jews or yobs.”
• The fifth tweet was a picture of a swastika bearing the caption “Juden sind hier unerwunscht” (“Jews not wanted here.”)

Representing himself, Millard admitted authoring the tweets but denied that they were seriously offensive. In a rambling defence, he attempted to justify his actions by insisting that his views were either factually accurate or, in the case of the swastika, no different to material printed by the press. He also claimed that he was the victim of persecution, citing the fact that the Bar Standards Board had been alerted to his activities by Jonathan Goldberg QC, a director of UK Lawyers for Israel, as evidence of “Jewish-Zionist influence”. He also attempted to impugn the integrity of Baroness Deech, a patron of UK Lawyers for Israel, who chaired the Bar Standards Board when the complaint was brought against him.

The tribunal upheld all the charges against Millard, finding him guilty of behaving “in a way which is likely to diminish the trust and confidence which the public places in you or in the profession”. He was immediately disbarred.

Within hours of the verdict, he was back on Twitter, tweeting his support for Baroness Tonge in the wake of her suspension for hosting an antisemitic event at the House of Lords, as well as a video of a rabidly antisemitic speech by Adolf Hitler.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has reported Millard to the police over his incitement to racial and religious hatred.

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