Cameron Accused of Playing Judge & Jury?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 at 7:38 pm

As the politicians tour the country trying to win over the public ahead of the General Election, the usual onslaught of customary remarks and comments against leaders of the Parties has already begun in earnest.

The decision was taken last Friday to award the three Labour MPs legal aid funded by the taxpayer after accusations that they had submitted fraudulent claims in their expenses. Cameron said to Tory supporters, “It is a complete outrage that people who wouldn’t even stand in the dock and answer the charges now expect everyone to pay for their legal defence. A Conservative government would have a review of legal aid, and there won’t be legal aid available for members of Parliament who are accused of fiddling their expenses.”

David Cameron has accused Labour of “hypocritical grandstanding” and a “complete outrage” that three Labour MPs have been granted legal aid for their criminal defence solicitors and upcoming court battle over expenses. Cameron pledged to review the legal aid system and stop MPs from being to take advantage of legal aid in the future.

However, it has also come to light that a Tory front bench spokeswoman in the House of Lords has opposed reforms introduced by Jack Straw, the justice secretary, to stop middle-class defendants, including MPs, from being granted legal aid.

Jack Straw has accused Cameron of “cynical grandstanding”, saying “that the system had already been overhauled by the government, ending state funding for wealthy defendants’ court cases.”

The Reforms which are being bought into crown courts introduce means testing, which will make it impossible for defendants earning above a predetermined income to receive legal aid, which would include MPs.

Baroness Seccombe, the Conservative deputy chief whip in the Lords, told peers last December, “We fear that if the government pushes ahead with these changes we will see a large number of defendants who will just miss out on criminal legal aid in the crown court cases. This will lead to a situation where criminal legal aid will be available to the very wealthy or the very poor. The worry we have about the government’s means-testing agenda is that it will deny access to justice for defendants and will not save a considerable amount of money.”

Director of the Legal Action Group Steve Hynes said “Politicians can set policy around the justice system but they cannot rule on individual cases, especially when it concerns politicians. It opens David Cameron up to allegations that he is interfering in the courts system.”

With many voters furious over the Legal Aid decision Jack Straw has said “I completely understand people’s frustration and anger about this, David Cameron is calling on me to review the law, but I have reviewed the law of my own volition. By the summer no one of independent means will be granted legal aid. By contrast the Tories have been entirely passive, or obstructive about this.”