The battle against the reforms to legal aid is gathering momentum. Petitions, protests, meetings, frenetic emailing of MPs and tweeting is taking over lawyers’ and campaigners lives and the campaign is building.
On Thursday, there will be an important backbench debate about the overhaul of the justice system. This is in no small part down to the petition which is approaching 100,000 signatories. It’s going to be important to get as many MPs there as possible to stand up and speak out in support of justice. You can email your MP using this letter as a template.
Campaign groups are beginning to work together united by the underlying concern that whether we’re disabled or homeless, British or not, we all deserve justice.
That’s why William’s petition to save legal aid for all is due to hit over a 1000 signatories after just a few days. He wrote it as someone who has fought for justice in the UK and won, completely reliant on the hard work of his legal aid solicitor. But as William says, ‘It’s not about me; it’s about everyone. It’s about anyone who believes that the government should be accountable to ordinary people for the decisions they make.”
The government’s threat to remove the ability to challenge bad decisions or mistakes made by the government for people on low incomes and migrants is particularly concerning for everyone who thinks that the government should be accountable to ordinary people.
And lastly, it is quite clear, these cuts are driven by political choice, rather than economic necessity as the rationale that they will save money simply does not stand up. New evidence shows the government’s projected savings of £6 million will be dwarfed by knock-on costs of £30million stemming from an increase in self-representation, increase in court costs and implications for prison safety. It’s also predicted that removing legal aid from almost everyone in immigration detention will cost £10.8 million. This is people are likely to be held for longer if they don’t have a solicitor working on their case, applying for bail or challenging detention.
Join the campaign to fight against these unnecessary and discriminatory reforms by signing the petition, writing to and visiting your MP, attending or organising a protest.