The Lord Chancellor, Michael Gove, has offered to suspend the latest cut to criminal legal aid fees if criminal defence solicitors agree not to continue their national boycott of legal aid work at the new rate. A second 8.75% cut to fees was introduced in July, but defence solicitors refused to accept the work, although they backed down in August as a gesture of goodwill. The Criminal Law Solicitors Association and London Criminal Courts’ Solicitors Association are considering Gove’s offer.