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Legal aid cut architect Chris Grayling is condemned by people's court

Protesters fight barrier to justice with roadblocks

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has been found guilty by a people's court as campaigners across England resisted swingeing cuts to crucial legal aid budgets.

Protesters at the Royal Courts of Justice in London set up symbolic roadblocks representing the legal barrier that millions low-income people face under the plans.

Police stood by as UK Uncut activists, alongside representatives of groups including Disabled People Against the Cuts, brought traffic to a standstill with a sit-down protest outside the iconic building in the Strand.

Similar demonstrations took place in Manchester, Liverpool, Cambridge, Hull, Northampton and Norwich.

Ministers claim that they're simply trying to slash the £2 billion cost of state-funded legal representation.

But budget cuts are forcing legal aid lawyers, who work on relatively low pay to represent the least well-off in court, to shut down.

Among the high-profile closures are Michael Mansfield QC's Tooks Chambers, while smaller regional firms employing hundreds of people have also gone into insolvency.

Many people who cannot afford fees now face having to represent themselves in court.

Law professionals have warned that this will lead to chaos in courtrooms.

Other people will not be able to bring their case at all.

Protester David Conway said: "The government's plans will block access to justice for millions of people.

"We're blocking roads to make a stand against that and to make it clear how strongly people around the country oppose these outrageous plans."

UK Uncut accused the government of taking aim at legal aid in a bid to gag the victims of its austerity agenda.

Campaign spokeswoman Anna Davidson said the conservative coalition was "making a political choice to cut legal aid to stop charities and individuals challenging their austerity agenda and its impacts in the courts.

"Legal aid helps people keep their homes when social services is trying to evict them because of the bedroom tax or sue the government over wrongful arrest or kettling or disabled people access the services they need."

Activists have vowed to step up their direct action campaign to get the cuts binned.

Growing resistance forced the Con-Dems into a minor U-turn earlier in July when the government backed down on plans to strip legal aid defendants of the right to choose their solicitor.

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