Legal aid uplift for criminal barristers not enough to stop strike

Jo Sidhu QC, chairman of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), said practitioners “have made it absolutely clear that without a substantial increase in criminal legal aid fees, the alarming exodus of prosecutors and defenders from criminal work will continue if not accelerate”.

The CBA said most of the £135m would go to specialist law firms and that of the remaining £35m, some £6m would go to solicitor advocates. The £29m would be further diminished, possibly to £20m, after overheads and taxes are taken into account.

The recent ballot of members mentioned a fee rise of 25 per cent, as opposed to the 15 per cent ministers have proposed, meaning barristers will continue with industrial action from April 11.