It is ironic that the government's consultation paper on the future of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme should be called Getting it right for victims and witnesses, when it intended introducing swingeing changes that would remove compensation for people who currently have injuries worth up to £2,500.

It also proposed that those who have injuries worth between £2,500 and £8,200 would find that their compensation was reduced to a range between £1,000 and £6,200. I see the proposals are stalled; perhaps even this government may have twigged that they didn't quite get it right.

I thought the laissez-faire Tories would ideologically give Jackson, portals et al a wide berth, but it just goes to show you what a bit of cronyism can do. And we are to be encouraged to embrace the free market, compete with each other and ensure success fees disappear.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am calling on you all to resist the temptation of rushing lemming-like to cut each other's throats. Let us at least make an attempt to stay in business, as to forgo charging clients a success fee in circumstances where they are getting a 10% increase in general damages anyway is as sensible as calling a consultation paper aimed at reducing compensation for victims Getting it right for victims...

Simon Baskind, Cohen Cramer, Leeds