David Lammy has used his first Labour party conference speech as justice secretary to end the myth about fat cat’ lawyers and reveal the truth about how much legal aid lawyers earn.
Taking to the main conference stage yesterday afternoon in Liverpool, Lammy called out the 'destructive' myth of 'fat cat' lawyers - a phrase that emerged during the Blair administration.
He said: 'Legal aid lawyers are not rich. Many people are paid less than nurses, teachers and the police who rely on them in court. They are high street lawyers of Cornwall and Tottenham, Liverpool and Leeds, serving their communities for much less than they could earn elsewhere’.
Legislation was announced by the government earlier this month to implement the long-awaited Hillsborough Law, marking the largest expansion of legal aid in a generation. Lammy told the conference he was ‘proud’ that as a result of Hillsborough Law, 'never again will grieving families be left without a lawyer when the state lines up against them’.
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Lammy pledged to champion legal services across the world and announced a new English Law Panel to promote English law worldwide 'as a gold standard that drives growth’. The Gazette can reveal that the panel will bring together the voices of judges, lawyers and business leaders, and be supported by new independent research to quantify the global commercial value of English law.
Lammy also promised to strengthen victims' rights, open up the courts 'to the people they serve' and expand intensive supervision courts. Announcing a crackdown on illicit finance, Lammy said London will host a summit next year.
Defending the judiciary, Lammy said shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick's attacks on judges 'would make Winston Churchill shudder in his grave'.
'Robert, patriotism isn’t smearing our independent judiciary from the pub on X,' Lammy said. 'It’s standing up for the rule of law. Magna Carta. Habeas Corpus. The rule of law. They are Britain’s gifts to the world.'
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