The government’s Magna Carta celebrations leave a bad taste in the mouths of legal aid campaigners, says Jon Robins
Chris Grayling’s global law summit to celebrate the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta is either a fittingly high-profile and dignified celebration of Britain’s unwritten constitution or else a grubby cash-in on our heritage to enable corporate lawyers to schmooze big business. You pays your money (£1,750 for a top ticket), you takes your choices.
I fear “Magna Carta fatigue” setting in. So far Melvyn Bragg, David Starkey and Helena Kennedy QC have all fronted their own BBC programmes on what Lord Denning once called “the greatest constitutional document of all times”. The charter was sealed by King John at Runnymede on 15 June 1215.
Focal point of ire
However, the summit which takes place later this month has become a focal point for the ire of legal aid campaigners. The event’s organisers haven’t helped themselves with a website that is a gift to snippy journalists. Such is the clanking mismatch between its attempt to evoke the spirit of Magna Carta and billing the event as “a
