The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill had its first reading in Parliament last week and now it’s scheduled for a second reading tomorrow. Usually when a Government has tried to rush through legislation it’s been to deal with urgent issues like terrorism. On this occasion am I being unkind or does the Government’s untimely haste have an ulterior motive? Perhaps if the bill can be hurried through quickly enough it will make it onto the statute book before there’s time for the public to lobby their MP. After all it is this insultingly-named piece of drafting that seeks to withdraw legal aid for family cases. It is the punishment of those offenders daring to try to cream off state funds to rescue themselves from an unhappy marriage; sentencing many to a lifetime of penury because they can no longer afford a lawyer to argue their case for financial provision and all for the withdrawal of legal aid funding that for many was repayable in any event, once funds had been recovered from their spouse or the family home sold. Quickie legislation to oust funding for quickie divorces.
