Thread by @AamerAnwar

Dear @HumzaYousaf we have been pushed further & further towards the point at which legal assistance for the poor & marginalised will simply just disappear. The title Justice Minister is not just about prosecution but also defence- we need you to break your silence on #SLAB 1/12

You offered a £9M resilience fund, yet the vast majority of firms who suffered up to 50% cuts in income are told by SLAB they estimate their income will have gone up & refused any help, they could have looked at what was paid out instead of estimates plucked out of the sky🙈2/12

The biggest victims of failing legal aid will be the poor, children,homeless,addicts, care leavers, victims of sexual abuse –LA provides an indispensable foundation of support for society’s most vulnerable people,without which many will be placed at future risk of harm.3/12

Scotland was so proud that we incorporated #UNCRC meaning all policy, law & practice in child protection & criminal justice systems must be compatible 2fulfil #HumanRights of all children- but without legal aid lawyers to defend their rights we will not give children power 4/12

There is no justice in taking traumatised children, holding them solely responsible for their actions, putting them through a process they don’t understand & unable to participate in -but without legal aid lawyers Scotland will go backwards on the rights of a child #UNCRC 5/12

This week I was proud that the voices of young people were being heard in Scotland with the incorporation of the
#UNCRC but it all feels very tokenistic now, legal aid lawyers are those who fight to give a voice to the voiceless 6/12

There is no point in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 being at the vanguard of human rights legislation- if individual’s cannot even bring a claim for a breach of Article 6 ECHR right to a fair trial- Only a tiny fraction of applications are accepted 4funding by SLAB already, now it will be non-existent 7/12

I have watched politicians shed tears & speak with gravity of the loss of lives in young offender’s institution but such words are meaningless- a robust legal aid system could mean the difference between life & death 8/12

The importance of legal aid lawyers is not only in enforcing a child’s legal rights in court, but clarifying both their rights and entitlements with authorities, how can that be done without Legal Aid? 9/12

Suicides are at their highest level in a decade @scottishprisons how many more must die like 16 year old #WilliamLindsay or #KatieAllan💔 prison services, are under immense pressure & less legal aid lawyers will only mean that prisons will never be held to account 10/12..

Dear @HumzaYousaf & @NicolaSturgeon human rights will be little more than window dressing in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, because without legal aid the most vulnerable can’t enforce their rights & then the rule of law simply doesn’t run. 11/12..

There is only 1 solution for you @HumzaYousaf end the silence & respond to the cries for help- Scottish Legal Aid Board have squandered a lifeline offered by you & will lead to the decimation of our profession, a drive to ‘contracting’, quantity not quality 12/12..