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Back before the dawn of legal aid most people who fell foul of the criminal law were unrepresented; they were mainly working class; and many of them came away with a dim view of both the police and the magistracy. But there was a fairly large middle class in those days which shared little common experience with the working class and didn't care. These days most 'professionals' like teachers, nurses, high street solicitors, have more in common with the better paid working class than they do with affluent dentists, surgeons, and bankers; and their children are more likely to be in lower-paid jobs. Increasing numbers of families are becoming downwardly mobile, and their children are more likely to fall foul of 'public-order' policing, whether through drug-taking, mental health problems, or being generally boisterous. Wait and see what happens when those people find out they can't afford legal representation for themselves and their children.

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