Liberal Democrats attending the party’s conference this week have voted through a motion calling on the government to retain legal aid for welfare benefit appeals
Delegates pointed out that 40% of employment and support allowance appeals are successful. The move follows the publication of an open letter from Alistair Webster QC, chairman of the Liberal Democrat Lawyers Association, urging MPs and party members to oppose the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill.
Webster wrote that the Bill’s legal aid provisions “ignore every aspect of the Party’s policy…this is completely unacceptable and must be fought… If the true aim is to leave a skeleton and third rate public legal system, the government should make that clear and we can judge it accordingly… This Bill is dire.”
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