MORNING SERIAL
AIDED by sensationalist headlines, legal aid for those who cannot afford representation has been portrayed as an affront to society rather than a vital cog within it.
This has allowed a succession of governments to slash the criminal legal aid budget in England and Wales from over £1.2 billion in 2007/08 to £879 million in 2018/19.
Civil legal aid has not been spared falling from £1bn in 2010/11 to £600 million by 2015/164.
But a far starker representation of how the law does not apply to everyone equally was Dominic Cummings’ high speed optical exam which has already been discussed extensively.
It is not just in law where there is the appearance of double standards. Questions of ethics and morality have also arisen.
It is common to have heard in recent years after some political scandal, ‘there was a time a politician would have resigned for that’.
This phrase was widely used in July when Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick refused to resign (and Johnson refused to sack him) after it was suggested he rushed through approval for a housing development plan for Conservative donor Richard Desmond.
It stands alongside the huge number of government contracts for the production of PPE given to companies with strong links to the Conservative Party which add up to at least £180m, though the Department for Health insist that ‘proper due diligence’ was carried out and it has ‘robust processes in place’.
Allegations of cronyism within the UK Government were common throughout the crisis, with the continued appointment of Dido Harding to senior positions a clear example.
Married to Conservative MP John Penrose she was the CEO of TalkTalk during their 2015 cyber attack, for which her handling received strong criticism.
A Conservative peer, Baroness Harding was put in charge of the UK Government’s contact tracing program, which was widely criticised for lack of efficiency and poor value for money as well as an app riddled with delays.
Lockdown Wales by Will Hayward £9.99 www.serenbooks.com/ productdisplay/lockdown-wales ISBN 9781781726013
CONTINUES TOMORROW