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These fee hikes are a complete disgrace. And the absurd and toadying comments by Shailesh Vara would be laughable if they weren't so insulting to the intelligence.

"We have one of the best legal systems in the world"

Should read:

"We had one of the best legal systems in the world, and we are proudly committed to its systematic destruction."

"... we are making sure our courts are properly resourced so that they can continue to build on their excellent reputation."

Should read:

"... we have cut the resources available to the courts to such an extent that they are no longer fit for purpose. In order to remedy this we are making it punitively expensive for anyone to go to court. When nobody can afford to use the courts any more the workload will then be manageable by the demoralised and underpaid skeleton staff that remain and we will have solved the problem - QED!"

"These fee changes will make sure hard-working taxpayers are not having to subsidise those using our civil courts."

Should read:

"These fee changes will make sure that hard working taxpayers will not be distracted from their labours with their irritating and irrelevant demands for justice, whilst simultaneously ensuring that access to justice will be retained for hard-working large corporations based in the British Virgin Islands. Whilst we recognise that these splendid companies may technically pay no tax in the UK we consider that their substantial donations to the Conservative Party more than make up for this."

"Vara said the civil court system has operated for many years under the principle that ‘those who use the courts should pay the full cost of the service they receive’."

Er no, actually, this `principle' (notable by its complete lack of principles) is one that has only been dreamed up by the cretins who have been running the judicial system for the last few years. The judicial system was in more enlightened times considered to be a necessary service provided by the state to its citizens, not something that was for sale only to those who could afford it.

This `principle' is a bit like asking communities to chip in to the defence budget on the basis that those who can't afford it will just have to fend off invading troops with sticks and stones.

It all reminds me of a saying that I once heard, "The law, like the Ritz Hotel, is open to all." That was said over 100 years ago, and Mr Vara is no doubt proud of his small part in helping to cancel out a century's work of improving access to justice.