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what is the argument you think i'm making?

Except that no one has yet said how much these hugely important Legal Aid lawyers should make. If a person decided to only do Legal Aid work, how much is reasonable for them to make? How much should you earn for getting very good degrees from very good universities, getting yourself into crippling amounts of debt to (possibly) defend people who are guilty, at the expense of the public purse?

It appeared to be that the public would not countenance paying a barrister to defend someone via legal aid, and that it would be more acceptable to substitute a nurse for the consultant (as it were), which would have the happy benefit of making the majority of defendants plead guilty when they realised they'd be getting the less qualified option.

Now I honestly have no idea.

What did you say your job was again?

some years ago (5ish?) the government was intent on slashing for good the legal aid budget - they wanted to put out for tender a few, massive contracts for legal aid on a bidding system...think G4S or Serco Law...even Eddie Stobbart expressed an interest ffs..
The idea would be that these huge firms could bid low for the contracts but make money by the sheer volume of work. The smaller, traditional solicitors firms would go out of business overnight as their legal aid contracts would not be renewed and the criminal bar would be destroyed as an independent profession because the likes of G4S and Serco etc would keep the advocacy in house.
Quality wise it would be a race to the bottom - the low bids for the contract only make business sense if you keep costs down - the government's plan was to introduce a Quality Scheme for Advocates so that they could say that the criminal justice system was in good hands as it was all quality assured.
That plan was defeated thankfully but there has remained a mutual distrust between the independent bar and the govt. Many people do, apparently, genuinely feel that there is no need for the tax payer to pay for the rolls royce service the independent bar offers.
many people do recognise its value, and despite the rambunctiousness up thread, I am genuinely pleased, and surprised, at the value people place on the role. but the difficult question remains what it should cost.

But that's the wrong way question.

What would it cost to run a system where justice is swift. fair and available to all?

I'd suggest looking at outcomes and costs in countries with a similar system to ours, who have outcomes that we consider to be aspirational.

The public are, in general, fucking idiots who should be ignored - that's why we have a representative democracy rather than an absolute one.

All in it together

Not even won a byelection yet and total disdain for her potential constituents from the Tory candidate for Tiverton and Honiton
https://twitter.com/mikegalsworthy/status/1538833137324670977

Replying to myself but top lols, Grant Shaps dismissing wage rises for CEO's as politically motivated left wing media grinding an axe
https://twitter.com/LBC/status/1539151775823024129

As a resident of Honiton, I cast my postal vote last week…

The number of Lib Dem signs and banners outweighs tories about 10 to 1. Met the Lib Dem candidate on Saturday at a fete I was running with Ed Davey, seemed a normal sort.

Was this for real?

Yeh went through Axminster the other week and was orange everywhere

The government did promise a high wage economy, unfortunately it’s for the few not the many (I accept that this is mere detail and I’m talking the country down. Again)

Ha, haven’t seen it for myself, I hope so though.

Even the farmer next door has plastered his barn in signs, which is fairly unheard of

Was reading this article in the Gruniad (I know) this morning:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/jun/21/women-of-colour-challenge-white-uk-yoga-racism

If you swapped the word 'Yoga' for 'Cycling', would it be more or less the same?

Sadly, so. And you could probably swap in loads of sports/passtimes. "Society" might work in there too. Depressing thoughts.

Wish we could have more of this when Government bots trot out their nonsense
https://twitter.com/HUncaring/status/1539004459212230658

Grant Shapps saying that the i story about increasing bosses pay is left leaning media with an axe to grind, top lols
https://twitter.com/LBC/status/1539151775823024129

Boris Johnson has operation for perforated septum (maybe).

I heard the surgeon had referred to 'a little snot'

It depends - relatively homogenous people? yeah maybe, that seems fair.

Teachers dressing up in other cultures clothing etc to add a veneer of authenticity? Not so much.

I tend to think that whereas the first point isn’t great, it kind of depends on the reasons - being unwelcoming is obviously a problem, but nor can you force a diverse group of people to do things.

The second seems to me worse.

‘Skinny, bendy and blonde’

paging @leggy_blonde

I think the article I linked to is dreadful. The sort of thing the Guardian specialises in, fodder to give the dim-witted something to fume about while they eat their organic muesli.

That's why I made the comparison with cycling. Just because the profile of the participants tends to be skewed toward the white middle class, it doesn't necessarily follow that we're all a bunch of racist bastards.

oi some of my best friends are brown

As an muesli eating guardian subscriber any better newspapers?

The Independent is the only leftish leaning paper I can think off.

I might be dim witted but I think that's a judgement for others ;)

As a white citizen of nowhere liberal metropolitan elite job straling citizen of nowhere I don't feel personally attacked when people point out some activities are very white.

Best to think on how to share the space with others, reaching out can help a lot.

Often it's not overt racism, just social circles that don't overlap, so many local groups here make a point to visit other groups.

The local conservation group works with the Indian community center, the Irish dancing group a colleague of mine goes to visited the Muslim ran center etc etc.

The Mirror

I thought it was a weird article - seems there are probably some legitimate concerns but also a lot of allusion to it automatically not being OK if a group isn’t diverse