The criminal bar's protest over fee cuts was branded 'a pretty pathetic effort' after it was revealed that 61 trials had been affected by the October action and none abandoned.

The figures were released by Department of Constitutional Affairs minister Bridget Prentice in response to a written parliamentary question tabled by Labour solicitor MP Andrew Dismore.


Mr Dismore said the failure to be united showed that barristers 'are prepared to cut each others' throats for short-term advantage'. He said he could understand why barristers wanted to make a stand, but suggested the way they went about it was 'silly, ineffective and didn't help them one bit'.


A Bar Council spokesman said: 'No one actually knows how many trials were disrupted so we wouldn't regard the figures as credible. What's important about the dispute is that it threw into sharp relief the raw deal the junior bar gets on legal aid pay.'