GREEN Party leader Natalie Bennett yesterday spoke in defence of legal aid at the protest against the Justice Secretary’s consultation Transforming Legal Aid, which threatens to cut £220m from the annual budget for criminal legal aid and remove defendants' rights to choose their solicitor.
Natalie said: “The phrase ‘British justice’ is justly famous, but that’s dependent on defendants getting good, sympathetic representation. You’ve only got to read the historic records on the Old Bailey Online to see how they were denied to chance to defend themselves before the introduction of legal aid.
“This also goes beyond the issue of justice to the issue of fairness. No one doubts visiting Russian oligarchs will be able to get the lawyer of their choice, but any of us, in the terms of Occupy any of the 99%, can’t be certain of that without the provision of legal aid.”
Natalie went on to say: “The Green Party believes that the coercive power of the state should never be privatised – policing, jails, the military should always remain under absolute democratic control and accountability, but while they are not, it is even more critical that legal defences isn’t also privatised.
“We know this is an ideological move by the government. We know that outsourcing is a failed model of service provision – the only benefit is profits into the hands of shareholders and managers, while the quality of service collapses, as do the pay and conditions of staff.”
Among others supporting the protest were the Blur drummer and lawyer David Rowntree, legal campaigner Clive Stafford-Smith, Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws, and Gerry Conlon, who was one of the Guildford Four.
Natalie concluded: “I’m confident with the strong turnout here today, and the strength of this campaign, that you are going to win this battle. After you’ve done that I urge you to go on to work with other campaigns working to defend our critical public services against privatisation, such as Keep Our NHS Public.
“Chris Grayling says that the government can’t afford to provide justice; I say we can’t afford not to.”
Natalie added that the suggestion in Mr Grayling’s proposal of adding a residency test for legal aid would prevent essential supporting being available to victims of trafficking and domestic abuse.
Note: A petition against the changes can be found at https://submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/48628