Criminal lawyers plan second protest against legal aid cuts
updated on 30 January 2014
Following a morning walk-out in protest at the proposed cuts to legal aid earlier this month, criminal lawyers are planning to stage a full day of protest if the government’s planned cuts go ahead.
The chairman of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association (CLSA), Bill Waddington, said that the CLSA was working together with the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) and the London Criminal Courts Solicitors Association on another protest following the widespread publicity achieved by the last walk out, which all have been careful to avoid calling a strike.
As reported by the Solicitors Journal, Waddington said: "We can't wait until the government's response is out to organise something. If we lay some plans now, before publication, we can firm up on them or cancel them if the government gives us everything we want, which is highly unlikely."
Meanwhile Nigel Lithman QC, chairman of the CBA, said on the CBA website today: "Our message has been sent - loud and clear. We do not want to interrupt the system, but to show that to work efficiently it needs the continued survival of a strong and independent criminal Bar."
