Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill

If the hon. Lady had been present earlier in the debate she would have heard hon. Members on both sides of the House discuss that point. The cuts to legal aid are likely to provide no real saving to the public purse but will lead to courts struggling to cope as the weak and vulnerable struggle to represent themselves. Should not the weakest and most vulnerable have the same access to justice as those with plenty of finance behind them? The Bill fails to ensure fairness across the board and is, as many Members have said, an utter shambles.