IF the Lord Chancellor's Department get their way some of the poorest and most disadvantaged people will be denied the free legal aid advice scheme for criminal cases.

The free advice is often needed while applications for full criminal legal aid, now subject to rigorous means testing, are being considered.

Once again, it would be the people on the bottom rung of life's ladder who would get kicked in the teeth in what would be a penny pinching operation.

It is difficult to understand the logic behind this move when we take into account the millions of pounds spent on legal aid for the Maxwell brothers and others with Mayfair and Chelsea addresses.

The legal aid advice scheme is vital for those on the breadline.

The proposal comes at a time when the Lord Chancellor, Lord Mackay, is warning magistrates to cut down on the number of adjournments.

But scrapping the legal aid advice scheme, say legal experts, would create far more adjournments.

A clear case of left hand and right hand.

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