In response to the Prime Minister's speech at the Conservative Party Conference, Amanda Pinto QC, Chair of the Bar, said:
“It is shocking and troubling that our own Prime Minister condones and extends attempts to politicise and attack lawyers for simply doing their job in the public interest. Lawyers – including those employed by the Government itself - are absolutely vital to the running of our grossly under-funded criminal justice system. Their professional duty is to their client and to the court, and not to play political games.
“The proper application of the laws of this country is fundamental to the justice system and it is a lawyer’s task to set out the proper arguments to enable that to happen. Even the Home Secretary does not suggest that lawyers are hamstringing the criminal justice system.”