Lib Dems rebel over legal aid cuts

[jman]

Guardian

" Lib Dem MPs rebel against proposals to cut legal aid fundingAmendments tabled by two Lib Dem MPs and supported by Simon Hughes show signs of split between coalition partners

Owen Bowcott, legal affairs correspondent guardian.co.uk, Friday 28 October 2011 18.44 BST Article history

The Lib Dem deputy leader, Simon Hughes, supports the amendments tabled by Tom Brake and Mike Crockart.

Senior Liberal Democrat MPs have staged a rebellion against coalition government plans to slice £350m a year out of the legal aid budget, warning that it will restrict access to justice.

A series of amendments to the legal aid, sentencing and punishment of offenders bill have been tabled by Tom Brake and Mike Crockart, the two Lib Dem MPs who sat on the committee stage of the bill, and supported by Simon Hughes.

Their proposals are the first significant signs of a split between the two parties in the coalition over the proposed legislation and challenge the most more controversial proposals within the bill.

"I suspect there's quite a lot of backbench support," said Brake, the Lib Dem MP for Carshalton and Wallington and formerly his party's home affairs spokesman.

"This is not officially sanctioned. This is party backbenchers making it clear that they have strong views about aspects of this particular bill as it relates to legal aid, and setting down a marker over these issues with the government.

"We have misgivings about the impact on access to justice although the fundamental need to cut the legal aid budget is not one we are disputing. But there is scope for giving ground on some of the more controversial saving proposals."

The amendments put down by Brake and his Liberal Democrat colleagues are calculated to preserve legal aid for the most vulnerable potential claimants. They include:

• Ensuring that legal aid is preserved for claimants who need to take a case for clinical negligence

• Making legal aid available earlier to those at risk of losing their house to repossession

• Keeping "no win, no fee" arrangements and "after the event insurance" for those who wish to take privacy or defamation cases. The family of Milly Dowler were able to bring their case against News International through such means

• Removing proposals that could subject those arrested to being means tested before they are entitled to legal advice

• Preserving legal aid for those who need to appeal to tribunals against decisions that affect their entitlements to welfare benefits

• Preserving legal aid for immigration cases involving disputed reunions with family members who are abroad................"

Rest at link below :


www.guardian.co.uk/law/2011/oct/28/lib-dem-legal-aid-rebellion


If you want to e-mail the 3 Lib Dem MPs to encourage them to fight to amend the bill here are their e-mail addresses. Why not e-mail all the other Lib Dems and encourage them to support the amendments-details on Parliament website. here are the 3 so far's e-mails and below that a link to Lib Dem's main site with the e-mail address of all 57 of their MP's let's get as many people as possible to e-mail them and encourage them to vote for the amendments. Please get this out on Twitter and to anyone else who might contact them

www.libdems.org.uk/mps.aspx

www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/

The three:

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EDIT: I have now done a list of the e-mails of all Lib Dem MP's from their site apart from obvious front bench people who would not be likely to vote for amendments - details below

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[jman]

They Work for You has a breakdown of how MPs voted on each clause of the bill and their party. 10 Lib Dems rebelled against the whip and voted for Yyvonne Fovargue's clause 17 on the need for legal aid for complex social welfare law cases (cluster cases). Details below click on the link on whips vote on the page.

They were Messrs Brake, Crockart, George, Hancock, Horwood, Hughes, Lloyd, Mulholland, Swales and Ward.

Here is what David Ward MP of the Lib Dems said about the cut to social welfare law in yesterday's debate:

"Someone once told me that the world is divided into 2 groups of people. There are those who, when they see somebody walking down the street with a walking stick, believe in kicking the stick away because it will make that person stronger, and there are those who believe that if they kick away the stick, the person will just fall over. We are in grave danger of making some of those who by definition are the most vulnerable in our society, fall over and we will still have to be there to pick them up, at even greater cost to the public purse. It does not make sense; we should not do it"



www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2011-11-02a.1007.3