An estimated 100,000 of the most vulnerable in society will be hit by the coalition’s planned reforms to the legal aid system in England and Wales, Unite, the largest union in the country, said today.

Unite made its grim prediction before tomorrow’s (Wednesday,12 January) launch of the Justice for All campaign at the House of Commons which will be the springboard to reverse November’s announcement by Justice Secretary, Kenneth Clarke, denying access to the legal aid system for those seeking help on debt, education, employment, immigration, housing, social welfare and family cases.

Unite is one of a number of organisations that come under the Justice for All umbrella.

The campaign aims to reverse the swingeing cuts in the Justice Department’s legal aid budget over the next four years and also the drastic reduction in local authority funding.

Unite is urging MPs to sign an Early Day Motion calling on the government to rethink the provision of legal services for the poorest in society.

The speakers at the launch include Labour MP, Yvonne Fovargue - incoming chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Legal Aid - and veteran Liberal Democrat MP, Sir Alan Beith, Chair of the Commons Justice Select Committee

Rachael Maskell, Unite national officer for the Not-for-Profit sector, said: "We estimate - and we expect this will be backed up by figures from the Justice Ministry - that these savage cuts to the legal aid budget will affect 100,000 of the country’s most vulnerable citizens.

"Because of the current austerity measures which will cause joblessness, repossession of homes and relationship breakdowns, everyone should have an interest in a strong legal aid system. It could, unfortunately, be ‘you’."

The Justice for All campaign aims to ensure that the principles of legal aid, enshrined when they were set out in 1949, are maintained, especially as the coalition’s tough austerity package bites in 2011.

Unite argues that the government’s £81bn worth of cuts, announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review last October, will heighten the need for the very legal services which are now for the chop.

Maskell added: "For those legal advice services that survive these cuts, lawyers and advisors will be severely restricted because of cost constraints as to what they can offer in the way of support."

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