The CWU has signed an open letter to Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg calling for cuts to legal aid to be scrapped. The letter, penned by Justice Alliance - a group of campaigners fighting against the Government's proposals to change legal aid to the detriment of those seeking access to justice - is signed by a wide range of organisations representing a cross-section of society.
The open letter welcomes the policy unanimously confirmed at the Liberal Democrat's conference in September which recognises that all aspects of the proposals to change legal aid have serious implications for access to justice and fair trial rights and urges Nick Clegg to "ensure the changes to legal aid, both those that are still in the form of proposals and those that Chris Grayling [Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice] has decided will be implemented, which now have no government mandate, are stayed."
Read the open letter in full.
In a statement of support to Justice Alliance the CWU criticises the cuts to legal aid for hitting those already least able to access the legal system, accuses the government of "erecting barriers to justice" and "ignoring the needs" of ordinary people and warns that "we will end up with a severely polarised society with your rights based on our ability to pay - instead of your need" if the gap between the 'haves' and 'have nots' continues to widen.
Read the CWU's testimonial in full.
Commenting, CWU senior deputy general secretary Tony Kearns, who signed the open letter on behalf of the union, said: "Yet again we see this ruthless government bulldozing through the basic rights of society, ignoring the human cost to fulfil their own economic agenda. The wide reaching implications of the proposed changes to legal aid are plain to see and it is time the government heeded the warnings and acknowledged the needs of ordinary people."
Justice Alliance believes that the proposed changes to legal aid will seriously undermine the quality of criminal defence legal representation, creating a risk of miscarriage of justice, exclude some of the most vulnerable people in society from access to justice and make government bodies less accountable for their actions. The CWU wholly supports the objective of the Save Justice campaign to make sure the proposed cuts to legal aid are not implemented.
What can you do to support?
Speak/write to your MP, sign the e-petitionand spread the word.
For more information visit Save Justice.