Liberal Democrat conference passes motion expressing “regret” at legal aid cuts

A motion has been passed at the Liberal Democrats conference expressing “regret” at the party’s role in making swingeing cuts to the legal aid budget during the 2010-15 coalition government.

The motion called the legal aid cuts, which formed part of the coalition and subsequent Conservative government’s austerity programme, “dramatic and disproportionate”, while it said that domestic violence victims have found the reduced legal aid system “cumbersome and difficult to navigate.” The passing of the motion with an overwhelming majority shows party members’ disapproval of the work of former Liberal Democrat coalition government justice ministers Lord McNally and Simon Hughes, who helped to usher in the cuts.

As the Law Gazette reports, the motion also sets out 19 demands including the reinstatement of legal aid for first-tier appraisals in social welfare cases, and a review of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act.