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Much of the country was aggrieved to learn on Monday that the three MPs charged with alleged abuses of their expenses and who have claimed parliamentary privilege have been granted legal aid. Indeed, Gordon Brown voiced the feelings of most folk when he said that the three would have to repay any legal aid awarded to them.
Since then the Legal Services Commission has said it was up to the trial judge to decide how much, if any, the three would repay. The head of the Law Society also pointed out that, ‘It is a principle of our legal system that anyone charged with a criminal offence before the Crown Court is entitled to legal representation’.
The lawyers may be right. But so is public opinion on this occasion.
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Much of the country was aggrieved to learn on Monday that the three MPs charged with alleged abuses of their expenses and who have claimed parliamentary privilege have been granted legal aid. Indeed, Gordon Brown voiced the feelings of most folk when he said that the three would have to repay any legal aid awarded to them.
Since then the Legal Services Commission has said it was up to the trial judge to decide how much, if any, the three would repay. The head of the Law Society also pointed out that, ‘It is a principle of our legal system that anyone charged with a criminal offence before the Crown Court is entitled to legal representation’.
The lawyers may be right. But so is public opinion on this occasion.
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