Jon Robins reflects on the controversial Legal Aid Bill as it makes its way to the House of Lords
The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill has had its final reading in the House of Commons. Frankly, there was no shortage of opportunities for MPs to play on the fact that the debate on this “Bill of Horrors” kicked off on All Hallow’s Eve, of all days. However, the Labour MP for Tooting, Sadiq Khan, began with a somewhat prematurely festive image calling the legislation “a Christmas tree Bill” with baubles “being added all the time”.
Festive farce?
The sprawling Legal Aid Bill has 120 clauses and 18 schedules. At the 11th hour—as the Christmas tree was “being cut down to be taken to the other place”, ie the House of Lords—Khan noted that yet “more baubles” were being hung upon its overstretched branches: 17 government new clauses, five new schedules and 84 amendments.
How would MPs do justice to all those huge concerns in the limited time set aside? As Khan noted, there were many important issues of substance
