I will restrain my language and simply call this a shoddy, cynical, petulant act, and as such entirely fitting as the last action of the present Lord Chancellor in this Parliament.
So say Nearly Legal regarding the speedily introduced replacement regulations for legally aided JR. And then there is the equally sneaky introduction of a new “mandatory financial penalty” in the criminal courts. One might say exactly the same regarding the decision to press on with the widely hated Duty Contract bid round. Election purdah provided an easy, face-saving opportunity to ditch these probably doomed, yet costly, plans and yet this was not taken. It certainly seems equally shoddy, cynical and petulant.
Labour has already said they will scrap the scheme and can one imagine any incoming Lord Chancellor, even from a majority tory government, wanting a good deal of distance between themselves and this potential car crash.
