Monday 19 February 2007 5:44 pm
I joined local solicitors today at Highbury Corner magistrates' court, protesting against the Government's proposed legal aid cuts.

The whole point of legal aid is to give the poor access to justice. Without it, the law becomes a rich man's lottery; and the unfashionable yet vital areas of housing law, immigration, domestic violence, and debt will be starved of support. The proposed fixed fee system does not recognise that cases vary in complexity, it does not include any London allowance, and any special costs, such as translators for those people for whom English is not a first language, will have to be met from within the fixed fee. The Law Society estimate that as many as 800 law practices may abandon legal aid as a result of these proposals, equivalent to a quarter of all current providers of legal aid advice.

The Government claims to be tackling legal 'fat cats' growing rich from the profits of legal aid. In fact, legal aid is already the law's Cinderella service. The fat cats are the lawyers turned politicians from Lord Falconer to Emily Thornberry MP who should be using their position to help not harm their poorer neighbours. Most of the cases heard at courts like Highbury don't make the headlines but they do make & break people's lives.

Legal aid is one of the cornerstones of a fair and decent society. It's tragic that having survived years of Tory government, legal aid is under attack from Labour.