With respect to the Master of the Rolls, he is wrong to link problems of civil legal aid funding with the funding of criminal legal aid (see [2006] Gazette, 21 April, 20). The real problem is the way the government has chosen to prioritise expenditure. Access to justice is a low priority for this government. Increasing the power of the state through an avalanche of legislation is a high priority.


One striking illustration is the Identity Cards Act 2006. Even before the Bill was passed, the government spent £36 million on research. Some estimates put the total cost of the identity card project at £20 billion. That is around ten times the entire criminal legal aid budget for the year.


The ID card project will involve constructing a vast database containing many pieces of personal information. It will strip people of their privacy. It will not prevent fraud or stop terrorism. We know from our experience of smaller computer projects how prone they are to failure.


The government attack on public funding for legal aid reflects the low regard it has for civil liberties. Our profession has a special responsibility to defend the legal aid system and access to justice. By the same token, we also have a responsibility to campaign against the erosion of our liberties, including measures such as the Identity Cards Act.


Paul Kaufman, Wiseman Lee, London