It is interesting to see that our brethren north of the border have been involved in a grassroots rebellion against ‘Tesco Law’, (see [2010] Gazette, 1 April, 8). On your front page you report that the chairwoman of the Legal Services Consumer Panel is calling for a competence test. This is but one of the terrifying consequences of the application of the law of unforeseen consequences, when our own Law Society failed to put the brakes on the politicians’ ‘liberalisation’ of the delivery of legal services in England and Wales.

There is, I believe, still much to play for in this continuing debate. And while I note that Dianne Hayter calls for quality checks on all lawyers, it is my view that it is the politicians throwing stones from glass houses who should undergo regular checks on their own competence to legislate.

SJ Larcombe, Limbach Banham, Royston, Herts