Sadiq Khan MP

Peers in the House of Lords have defeated the Government and won a series of key amendments to the Legal Aid Bill, including making the provision of legal aid a 'binding duty'.

The three defeats come after Ken Clarke earlier defended the Government's reforms to Legal Aid, saying they were a matter of "common sense" and will not restrict access to justice.

Speaking to the Today programme this morning, the Justice Secretary said: "It doesn't close anybody's access to justice, at all. For those who don't get Legal Aid, the courts are already too expensive, so they're normally only accessible to the very rich or the very poor, but access to justice will still be there."

The plans were criticised by the Des Hudson, the head of the Law Society, who said "the poorest and weakest" would not be able to seek legal redress.

Writing exclusively for PoliticsHome, Shadow Justice Minister Lord Bach says there is a "strong sentiment" across all three parties in the House of Lords that the bill is "unconstitutional, heartless and economically unsound".

 

Labour's Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan MP criticised the "cuts" and said legal aid is an "investment" against "greater costs" down the line.

“This Tory-led Government has consistently ignored independent research showing that early stage legal aid intervention is actually an investment against greater costs down the line.

"Opposing these social welfare cuts is clearly the right thing to do if we are to fight the short-sighted and damaging nature of this Government’s attack on the most vulnerable in society."

MPs have this evening passed a motion calling for the reform of the UK's extradition arrangements. The move was unanimous and required no vote.

Earlier today, Former Home Secretary David Blunkett saud that he had suggested alleged computer hacker Gary McKinnon could stand trial via video link.

Mr Blunkett said the suggestion, which he put to the Department of Justice in Washington, would mean it ewas possible "for the trial to take place on US soil, but for Gary to remain here and serve his sentence here".

Mr McKinnon, who suffers from Asperger's syndrome, has spent the last decade in court facing extradition charges.

The need for a renegotiation of the UK-US extradition agreement will be contested in a backbench debate today, in the wake of contentious cases like that of Scottish hacker Gary McKinnon.

The debate was secured by Conservative MP Dominic Raab, but has significant cross-party support. Sadiq Khan has called on the Government to act to secure more prisoner transfer agreements, estimating that the overstretched UK prison system could see a net loss of about 2,500. Writing for PoliticsHome, the Shadow Justice Secretary said increasing the number of deals would result in “a huge saving to British taxpayers”.

The policeman involved in the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan in Tottenham last month will not return to front line duty, Home Secretary Theresa May told MPs this morning.

Ms May was speaking to the Home Affairs Committee about policing and the riots. She added: "I’m absolutely clear that what underlay it was criminality. And I think we see that about three quarters of those who’ve been arrested so far have had some sort of criminal record, be it caution or other disposal."

Magistrates and crown court judges could be asked to remove benefits from convicted rioters under proposals being drawn up by the Government, according to the Guardian. Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan also said this morning that Ken Clarke's blaming of the riots on a "feral underclass" is lazy, and absolves those involved of responsibility.

The police officer who shot and killed Mark Duggan, the act that sparked the riots, is to return to firearms duties as the investigation moves towards the conclusion that “no officer did anything wrong”, according to The Times.