The government has been left red faced in recent days after a judge decided to throw out a case of serious fraud. The decision came after the Prime Minister’s brother, Alex Cameron QC, successfully argued that his client was unable to find adequate representation due to the government’s justice reforms program.
The defendant, Scott Crawley, is accused of committing a £5m fraud in the period between 2008 and 2011, using the companies European Property Investments, Plott UK and Stirling Alexander. These firms, which were accused of the mis-selling of land, have all now been wound up.
Mr. Cameron offered to represent the defendants without a fee and argued that five of the accused were not able to find barristers of “sufficient competence” due to cuts to the Department of Justice made by his brother’s administration.
His argument comes after the fees for legal aid in England and Wales had been cut by 30%, which has led many barristers to refuse to take cases which they see as overly complex or lengthy. This ironic twist, however, is being challenged by the government. Number 10 is doubtless hoping that the situation can be resolved before the story makes headlines, although his brother’s case was made against a reform rather than direct budget cuts to the department.
However, the case throws up one of the financial paradoxes of government austerity programs, namely that if a department makes savings or changes in one area, this may inadvertently lead to greater costs or less money being taken in elsewhere. A similar issue has been seen in the NHS, where the withdrawal of home care has forced individuals with certain conditions into hospital, driving up costs overall.
The £5m case relating to Mr. Crawley and others is one of the most ironic of recent years, but it by no means the only point at which the government’s reform program has come under fire. How the Ministry of Justice respond should they lose their appeal is yet to be seen, but we can be relatively sure that the Prime Minister will be having words with his brother in the meantime.