Nigel Evans still is in parliament…
Just what I was going to say…
He was deputy Speaker, and quit that role.
Also, he opted out of legal aid so he could use his own choice of counsel. This blog by a working magistrate is good to find out what’s really going on: http://magistratesblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/not-guilty-doesnt-mean-what-it-used-to.html
In a legal system where a lawyer becomes an absolute requirement there needs to be a way to balance the opposing sides other than the fatness of their bank account. In criminal cases very few people can outspend the Crown or the US though it happens and they end up winning in a reasonable percentage of cases if those even go to trial, the same is true when for example facing the RIAA/MPAA in civil court. The time and finance limited pubic defender, only available in criminal cases, is mostly there to help arrange a (guilty)plea bargain contributing to the conviction rate in the US surpassing that in Nazi Germany!
If we need universal health care since everyone gets sick eventually, so also we have structured the law and our allegedly free western society in a way that we also need to have well funded single payer legal protection or some other equality scheme. The massive wealth imbalance makes barratry a realistic option for both profit and revenge both by private parties and by prosecutors looking to further their careers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barratry_(common_law) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_terrorem
We end up with a legal ecosystem where most of us are herbivores with a few predators including the state who rarely attack each other but mostly feed on the 99% prey animals.
Christ. What an asshole.
when the symbol £ isn’t used, it would be written as GBP not UKP
has pledged to try to undo the damage he’s done to Legal Aid if he gets reelected
“Re-elect me and I will try to undo the damage I helped inflict last time you elected me!” The incentives, they are perverse.
Personally, I wouldn’t trust a magistrate to offer a balanced opinion on activities in the Higher Courts - too many vested interests.
Exactly what smut_clyde said.
Normally we judge people on their previous actions when they were in power before re-electing them. This guy admits what he supported was wrong but was happy to go along with it when it only affected other people, and when it turns round and bites him he wants to use it as a reason to get elected again. He is the very model of a self interested politician by his own admission, in short a typical Tory.
This story needs some corrections.
He is still an MP
He did not “help kill legal aid” because as deputy speaker he could not vote, nor argue for or against any bills. His job was to be impartial.
He did have the good grace to say that were he not deputy speaker, he probably would have supported the cuts [since he is a tory MP and generally wouldn’t vote against the whip].
He may or may not be a complete arsehole, but he’s not responsible for what the headline claims.
As should the country! Our international code is GB not UK. That changed with Maggie and the nascent internet, but as a (British) Republican, UK annoys me.
Further travesties of justice, glad to see this taking place. This is what happens when legal aid budget is cut until it is just about sufficient to enable the defence to plead out their client. He should have accepted their plea bargain!
On the other hand, in most cases (apart from the Olympic team) GB is incorrect as it excludes Northern Ireland.
Politically, Great Britain refers to the island together with a number of surrounding islands, which constitute the territory of England, Scotland and Wales. The island of Ireland lies to its west.
Great Britain is part of the sovereign state of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, constituting most of its territory: most of England, Scotland and Wales are on the island of Great Britain.
The Kingdom of Great Britain resulted from the union of the kingdoms of England (comprising modern-day England and Wales) and Scotland in 1707. Subsequently, in 1801, the Kingdom of Great Britain united with the neighbouring Kingdom of Ireland forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. When five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom in 1922, the state was renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Cory likes to exaggerate.
Or just, y’know, use the £ symbol. It’s a story about a UK MP so it’s not likely to be Sudanese pounds. Plus it appears to be acceptable to use $ to mean US dollars on the internet, despite dollars being used in far more countries.
But the Olympic team (Team GB) does include Northern Ireland and should be Team UK, no?
Like a great many conservative politicians, he has absolutely no sense of empathy, and so is completely shocked at the consequences of a law when they apply to him, but had no concept of the consequences applying to other people before now.
I feel we see this all the time, when conservative lawmakers discover their son is gay, or have family members requiring food stamps.
Not that progressives aren’t blameless for all sorts of things, but I do think that the biggest, most important difference between conservatives and progressives is a sense of empathy.
Stuff like this bugs me. All too often people in government or celebrities can’t be bothered to champion a cause unless the given issue has personally affected them. After they’re affected THEN they can suddenly see that an issue needs to be addressed or funding needs to be given or some such. Humanity is depressingly short-sighted.
