Harsh winds set to blowThree pieces of prospective legislation of interest to lawyers - the Homes Bill, the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill and the Adoption and Children Bill - all took a nosedive this week as Tony Blair put the country on election footing.But that should not suggest that a future Labour government is going to turn its eye away from issues close to the heart of the legal profession.Far from it, if the many Whitehall whispers are anything to go by.

A Labour government with a still sizeable Commons majority will put practice issues across the profession in the crosshairs.Newspaper reports last week gave a firm indication that Mr Blair, Lord Irvine and other key players are keen to implement some of the more radical suggestions regarding legal practice contained in the recent Office of Fair Trading report into the legal profession.Indeed, there were strong hints that a second-term Labour government might think the unthinkable and go for a fused legal profession.What looks certain is that ministers will jump on board recommendations in the forthcoming Auld report into the criminal justice system.Leading figures are primed to curtail the right to a jury trial and to create weekend and night court sittings.If Labour wins on 7 June by anything like the majority forecast, lawyers will have no respite from the winds of change.