Well, a lot has happened since I last talked to myself on here.
I finally left my job! I spent 6 months poking at another firm saying Gis a Job, Gis a Job, and finally they gave in. It's a firm that only does criminal law - magistrates, crown and prison law. Where my soul is.
I couldn't take the Other Place any more - it was badly run, not many clients were actually helped by our intervention, and everyone hated working there.
The New Place is run by eccentrics and staffed by the same, and it's bloody marvellous. Everyone there is there because they love what they do, are passionate, and believe in true social justice. Many of us have had a rough time, for various reasons, and most of us are a little quirky. But everyone is warm, friendly, and amazing at their jobs and I love it!
As far as Legal Aid is concerned, I've really only swapped one set of issues for another. Civil is currently sounding its deathrattle, and quite frankly I don't expect that anything will radically change from the bill to it being enacted. Defeatist, but sadly probably true. The combination of cuts, job losses and the loss of the vast majority of Civil Legal Aid is truly abhorrent. And the effect will be the marginalisation of many of society, impotent to challenge wrong decisions, see their kids, divorce, etc etc.
Criminal law and its problems sees even less media coverage/public sympathy. Mainly because it deals with those in society that we would rather pretend didn't exist. The druggies, alcoholics, ASBO kids, gangs, kiddy fiddlers...... Criminal defence lawyers are ranked scum too - to be honest, that doesn't bother me one iota - it's other people's prejudices that lead to that conclusion, not mine. Who's the first person (apart from your mum) that you'd call if you were arrested......? A solicitor. Necessary evil we are. Like flypaper.
One of the major proposals for cuts within crime ( apart from general cutting of fees) is that it is proposed that advice in the police station is means tested. At the moment, EVERYONE is entitled to speak to a solicitor free of charge when arrested and taken to a police station, and the chances are, to have a legal representative present when you are interviewed.
Imagine you are arrested in the middle of the night and dragged to the police station. Probably in your boxer shorts. If you're lucky, the police let you get dressed. Would you have the time or presence of mind to grab 3 wage slips? No? Well tough, you'll be on your own in the police station.
Will you know if they have the right to search your house? Take your computer and phone? Take intimate samples? Keep you for 24 hours? Should you answer questions or keep silent? No? This government says tough, you should know a solicitor, and be able to pay them before you have any of these questions answered. Seem fair?
The reality is not many people will care. Unless it happens to them. And that's where all the Legal Aid cuts collide. They aren't vote winners. They don't affect Middle England.
....but I love my job..... as long as it lasts. The death knell is starting to toll quietly for Criminal Legal Aid, and it won't be long before it becomes deafening.
Monday, 25 July 2011
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Playing the Game
The Game in question is difficult to define. I am no good at it however. Many of my colleagues are very good at it. They attend and hold many meetings, conduct many reviews and advocate many presentations to other people who are good at It.
What never seems to be done is much actual work. Actually seeing clients and achieving what the client wants to achieve. There is much bluster about Judicial Reviews, appeals and everlasting pointing out minor errors on the part of the Other Side. What no-one seems to ask is what the client actually wants.
We have one case where we have not seen or spoken to the client for over SIX months. We are progressing the appeal and review and general arsing about, but what no-one has done is actually see if the client WANTS us to do this.
I am loath to say this. In fact I may drink to forget later on, but I think David Cameron might be a little bit right about charities. The more contact I have with them, and the more I see of the work they do, the more it concerns me, the level of funding they receive. In a lot of cases to do no more than refer the person on to another charity, who will 'assess' the client and refer them on again. I am wholeheartedly NOT saying this generally about charitable organisations - there are many who do amazing work on very little money.
My own opinion is also that sometimes, the more places a person is referred to, the more that person becomes convinced that whatever the issue, is Someone Else's Responsibility. No-one seems to help them to take charge of their own lives. The charity becomes a crutch for them, not a helping hand.
In my own personal life, I have some shite going on. Some of it is my own doing, some of it is not. I could refer myself to many of these agencies for 'help'. I could scream and bemoan my lot (well, I do actually do that to be fair), but what I don't do is expect someone else to pick me up and do it all for me. Some might say that maybe I should learn to ask for help. In my darkest moments I have ( I got brief counselling after my father's hideous lingering death), but then you dust yourself off and move on.
In other words, the Game seems to be what some Not for Profit organisations are good at. Morally, I find it difficult to be a part of that. Practically, I need to pay the mortgage, and the private sector is fucked (daring to try and make a profit was not playing the Game apparently). I will need to get better at looking Very Busy and Important. And hold more meetings.
What never seems to be done is much actual work. Actually seeing clients and achieving what the client wants to achieve. There is much bluster about Judicial Reviews, appeals and everlasting pointing out minor errors on the part of the Other Side. What no-one seems to ask is what the client actually wants.
We have one case where we have not seen or spoken to the client for over SIX months. We are progressing the appeal and review and general arsing about, but what no-one has done is actually see if the client WANTS us to do this.
I am loath to say this. In fact I may drink to forget later on, but I think David Cameron might be a little bit right about charities. The more contact I have with them, and the more I see of the work they do, the more it concerns me, the level of funding they receive. In a lot of cases to do no more than refer the person on to another charity, who will 'assess' the client and refer them on again. I am wholeheartedly NOT saying this generally about charitable organisations - there are many who do amazing work on very little money.
My own opinion is also that sometimes, the more places a person is referred to, the more that person becomes convinced that whatever the issue, is Someone Else's Responsibility. No-one seems to help them to take charge of their own lives. The charity becomes a crutch for them, not a helping hand.
In my own personal life, I have some shite going on. Some of it is my own doing, some of it is not. I could refer myself to many of these agencies for 'help'. I could scream and bemoan my lot (well, I do actually do that to be fair), but what I don't do is expect someone else to pick me up and do it all for me. Some might say that maybe I should learn to ask for help. In my darkest moments I have ( I got brief counselling after my father's hideous lingering death), but then you dust yourself off and move on.
In other words, the Game seems to be what some Not for Profit organisations are good at. Morally, I find it difficult to be a part of that. Practically, I need to pay the mortgage, and the private sector is fucked (daring to try and make a profit was not playing the Game apparently). I will need to get better at looking Very Busy and Important. And hold more meetings.
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
More Legal Aid rantings.
Well I keep meaning to update this, but life got in the way, and the letters m, ' and @ don't work on my laptop anymore. Happily I have dug out an old keyboard and the laptop now resembles something from Back to the Future.
My main gripe/rant is still legal aid, and the cuts thereof, so stop reading now if you don't care.
I've been going through (yet again) the Green Paper on this, and what I keep coming back to is the disproportionate effect on women, those with disabilities, the mentally ill and those of ethnic minorities. When I was in private practice, the people who needed face to face advice were:
- those who didnt have access to a phone - whether they didn't have one, the violent partner wouldn't let them access one, or their English wasn't good enough.
- those with mental illnesses who needed the reassurance of a real person in front of them
- people with literally carrier bags of correspondence from debt companies/other solicitors about eg contact with their kids and who want and need to hand it over to someone to deal with
-people who have drug or alcohol misuse issues who need to come in first thing in the morning when they can take in advice.
-people who couldn't read the letters we sent out to them - we regularly sent out blank letterheads to clients who couldn't read and had no phone. They recognised the logo, and came in to see what we needed!
In my northern rural market town practice, we essentially offered a legal version of a GP - we covered most things, and deferred to specialists if need be. We and the other practices considered ourselves part of the community, and we served that community as best we could. My own practice regularly gave free advice because we believed that everyone should have access, regardless of ability to pay, and the senior partner passionately believed in social justice. He even has 'Justitia omnibus' on his gravestone.
Increasingly, because of the constraints put upon us mainly from Legal Aid, we had to drop services like debt and welfare advice and hope the CABs would take up the slack. By the time I gave up and gave the practice away (yeah - note 'gave' not sold - by then no-one in their right minds would BUY a practice with legal aid contracts!) we had become little more than yet another anonymous company obsessed with targets and policies.
That was a lament for the rose tinted past, sorry. My point was supposed to be that we served the community. This government is suggesting that anyone in future wanting legal aid, should phone ONE SINGLE NATIONAL number, and be told where they can go for advice, IF they are allowed to go at all. If it is deemed that their problem can be solved in a phone call, well they won't get to actually see anyone. It will all be dealt with facelessly. What happened to the Big Society? What happened to looking after people who need help? Do we honestly think we can discharge our social responsibility by giving people who have no phones a call centre number?? Human contact is sorely underestimated, and personally I find it difficult to tell over the phone if a client has genuinely taken in what I have told them - I need to read their expression, and I'm sure clients must feel the same.
All that leads to my second rant - work! Having been my own boss for so long, and been able to voice my opinion freely, it's very hard being subject to restrictions by my boss on what I can comment on. The short answer is I'm not allowed to comment publicly on the cuts, what they mean for clients or any potential redundancies within the firm.
To be frank, this boils my piss.
The company relies on legal aid, the Financial Inclusion Fund and other local funding, all of which have either just been cut, or are about to. Not even being 'allowed' to post links to newspaper articles on the cuts on Facebook makes me feel like a truculent teenager.
I have had offers from various national papers and professional journals to give my opinion on the cuts, and the effect this will have on clients and the workforce, and I can't comment. Given the national apathy on the cuts to legal aid, ANY raising of the profile is good. The only thing I have been able to do is part of the company response to the Green Paper. As long as I didn't denounce telephone advice, and eschewed the traditional methods of delivery i.e. a PR exercise. It reads like a press release.
Unless the company has a frigging millionaire behind the scenes, the likelihood is that it will not survive. I am not party to any discussions that management has, but quite frankly not many services like ours will survive without that much wished for motherfucking fairy. And the loss to clients will be catastrophic.
:
My main gripe/rant is still legal aid, and the cuts thereof, so stop reading now if you don't care.
I've been going through (yet again) the Green Paper on this, and what I keep coming back to is the disproportionate effect on women, those with disabilities, the mentally ill and those of ethnic minorities. When I was in private practice, the people who needed face to face advice were:
- those who didnt have access to a phone - whether they didn't have one, the violent partner wouldn't let them access one, or their English wasn't good enough.
- those with mental illnesses who needed the reassurance of a real person in front of them
- people with literally carrier bags of correspondence from debt companies/other solicitors about eg contact with their kids and who want and need to hand it over to someone to deal with
-people who have drug or alcohol misuse issues who need to come in first thing in the morning when they can take in advice.
-people who couldn't read the letters we sent out to them - we regularly sent out blank letterheads to clients who couldn't read and had no phone. They recognised the logo, and came in to see what we needed!
In my northern rural market town practice, we essentially offered a legal version of a GP - we covered most things, and deferred to specialists if need be. We and the other practices considered ourselves part of the community, and we served that community as best we could. My own practice regularly gave free advice because we believed that everyone should have access, regardless of ability to pay, and the senior partner passionately believed in social justice. He even has 'Justitia omnibus' on his gravestone.
Increasingly, because of the constraints put upon us mainly from Legal Aid, we had to drop services like debt and welfare advice and hope the CABs would take up the slack. By the time I gave up and gave the practice away (yeah - note 'gave' not sold - by then no-one in their right minds would BUY a practice with legal aid contracts!) we had become little more than yet another anonymous company obsessed with targets and policies.
That was a lament for the rose tinted past, sorry. My point was supposed to be that we served the community. This government is suggesting that anyone in future wanting legal aid, should phone ONE SINGLE NATIONAL number, and be told where they can go for advice, IF they are allowed to go at all. If it is deemed that their problem can be solved in a phone call, well they won't get to actually see anyone. It will all be dealt with facelessly. What happened to the Big Society? What happened to looking after people who need help? Do we honestly think we can discharge our social responsibility by giving people who have no phones a call centre number?? Human contact is sorely underestimated, and personally I find it difficult to tell over the phone if a client has genuinely taken in what I have told them - I need to read their expression, and I'm sure clients must feel the same.
All that leads to my second rant - work! Having been my own boss for so long, and been able to voice my opinion freely, it's very hard being subject to restrictions by my boss on what I can comment on. The short answer is I'm not allowed to comment publicly on the cuts, what they mean for clients or any potential redundancies within the firm.
To be frank, this boils my piss.
The company relies on legal aid, the Financial Inclusion Fund and other local funding, all of which have either just been cut, or are about to. Not even being 'allowed' to post links to newspaper articles on the cuts on Facebook makes me feel like a truculent teenager.
I have had offers from various national papers and professional journals to give my opinion on the cuts, and the effect this will have on clients and the workforce, and I can't comment. Given the national apathy on the cuts to legal aid, ANY raising of the profile is good. The only thing I have been able to do is part of the company response to the Green Paper. As long as I didn't denounce telephone advice, and eschewed the traditional methods of delivery i.e. a PR exercise. It reads like a press release.
Unless the company has a frigging millionaire behind the scenes, the likelihood is that it will not survive. I am not party to any discussions that management has, but quite frankly not many services like ours will survive without that much wished for motherfucking fairy. And the loss to clients will be catastrophic.
:
Wednesday, 12 January 2011
More Legal Aid ranting, now with added housing reform rant
It's been a while since I wrote on this blog. Partly because no-one reads it anyway, and partly because I have had my head wedged firmly up my own backside for a month.
I only came back to it as I posted on my Conservative MP's blog today. Mainly because he thinks the 'reforms' to housing issues are a marvellous idea. Housing law practitioners don't.
Read this:
http://nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/
It's a blog written by some housing law practitioners, and when I did housing law, was considered to be the best, most up-to-date and well written way to keep up with new cases and law. If they think this reform is a bad idea, it probably is.
The new proposals are, on first glance to the average Daily Mail reader, a marvellous idea. Get rid of noisy tenants quickly? Sorted. The devil is in the detail as the blog states. Sadly there is no detail as yet. What constitutes an annoying tenant etc etc? And don't forget, the tenant probably won't get any legal aid to defend what may be a vexatious claim.
ANYWAY, it was my first foray into contacting an MP about anything - let's see if he responds at all! If you're reading Guy Opperman, I'm not sure where you stand on most issues apart from housing, and snow on local roads. It would be useful for your blog to say a little more than how many local people you have met
On the subject of Legal Aid (which is a subject which I will bang on about ad infinitum so if it bores you, leave now), JusticeForAll held their lobby campaign launch today at Westminster. They have huge support from the legal community, and it seems that many MPs attended (not sure why yet, or in what capacity - for all I know, free muffins were being handed out). I don't hold out much hope of the Green Paper being substantially amended from what we have now, but at least the legal community has finally got it's collective arses up and done something joined up.
Me? I'm currently expecting to be made redundant - well, the company I work for gets most of its funding from either Legal Aid, or other government funding, so unless a motherfucking fairy appears, then my, and many others (around the country as well ) work days are numbered.
Next blog? What other job can I possibly do seeing as my career is being made redundant by this government? I could retrain, but I can't afford to - I can't afford tuition fees, a giant mortgage, 2 kids, and an imminently expensive divorce. Shipping law appears to be the only area still advertising jobs. Think they want a jaded legal aid solicitor?? Worth a CV I guess.
If anyone is interested, links to more information:
http://www.justice-for-all.org.uk/
http://mylegal.org.uk/
http://guyopperman.blogspot.com/
I only came back to it as I posted on my Conservative MP's blog today. Mainly because he thinks the 'reforms' to housing issues are a marvellous idea. Housing law practitioners don't.
Read this:
http://nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/
It's a blog written by some housing law practitioners, and when I did housing law, was considered to be the best, most up-to-date and well written way to keep up with new cases and law. If they think this reform is a bad idea, it probably is.
The new proposals are, on first glance to the average Daily Mail reader, a marvellous idea. Get rid of noisy tenants quickly? Sorted. The devil is in the detail as the blog states. Sadly there is no detail as yet. What constitutes an annoying tenant etc etc? And don't forget, the tenant probably won't get any legal aid to defend what may be a vexatious claim.
ANYWAY, it was my first foray into contacting an MP about anything - let's see if he responds at all! If you're reading Guy Opperman, I'm not sure where you stand on most issues apart from housing, and snow on local roads. It would be useful for your blog to say a little more than how many local people you have met
On the subject of Legal Aid (which is a subject which I will bang on about ad infinitum so if it bores you, leave now), JusticeForAll held their lobby campaign launch today at Westminster. They have huge support from the legal community, and it seems that many MPs attended (not sure why yet, or in what capacity - for all I know, free muffins were being handed out). I don't hold out much hope of the Green Paper being substantially amended from what we have now, but at least the legal community has finally got it's collective arses up and done something joined up.
Me? I'm currently expecting to be made redundant - well, the company I work for gets most of its funding from either Legal Aid, or other government funding, so unless a motherfucking fairy appears, then my, and many others (around the country as well ) work days are numbered.
Next blog? What other job can I possibly do seeing as my career is being made redundant by this government? I could retrain, but I can't afford to - I can't afford tuition fees, a giant mortgage, 2 kids, and an imminently expensive divorce. Shipping law appears to be the only area still advertising jobs. Think they want a jaded legal aid solicitor?? Worth a CV I guess.
If anyone is interested, links to more information:
http://www.justice-for-all.org.uk/
http://mylegal.org.uk/
http://guyopperman.blogspot.com/
Sunday, 21 November 2010
Snow and Hummers
Happier days this weekend.
Went to visit my brother in one of the remotest parts of England. Drove to teeny tiny village to see THE. BEST. FIREWORKS.! Unbelievable stuff - mahoosive fireworks - the sound of them echoed off the hills around - sounded like machine gune fire and mortars! They were so big and we were so close that it looked like we were inside them. Ironically the adults enjoyed the experience far more than the kids - we oohed and aahed and drank homemade soup and stomped our frostbitten toes, while the kids watched and said 'yeah they were good'.
Apparently they have such an amazing display as one of the guys in the village works for a fireworks company and gets them cheap once the 5th November has passed.
Set off for home early in the morning as child number 2 had a party to go to - the parents have hired a stretch Hummer to take 15 6 year olds to the cinema. A.Stretch. Hummer. Excess isn't in it. It does 2 miles to the gallon. Contemplated not letting him go in it on principle, then decided I would be derided for ever more by the other parents, and gave in. What price principle? Parents derison apparently.
On the plus side, it snowed as we were driving back - beautifully draped snow over the hills. Even the kids loved it. No snow on the road at all until we got to the sign saying 'Welcome to X'. The gritter turns around at the sign. No matter - the 3 hairpin bends were hairy but fun.
Snuggled up beside a warm fire now whilst son number 1 enjoys peace and quiet without his brother. I shall knit for a bit I think now. It is appropriate when sat beside an open fire to knit. And drink coffee. And maybe to smoke a pipe while I think about it.
Went to visit my brother in one of the remotest parts of England. Drove to teeny tiny village to see THE. BEST. FIREWORKS.! Unbelievable stuff - mahoosive fireworks - the sound of them echoed off the hills around - sounded like machine gune fire and mortars! They were so big and we were so close that it looked like we were inside them. Ironically the adults enjoyed the experience far more than the kids - we oohed and aahed and drank homemade soup and stomped our frostbitten toes, while the kids watched and said 'yeah they were good'.
Apparently they have such an amazing display as one of the guys in the village works for a fireworks company and gets them cheap once the 5th November has passed.
Set off for home early in the morning as child number 2 had a party to go to - the parents have hired a stretch Hummer to take 15 6 year olds to the cinema. A.Stretch. Hummer. Excess isn't in it. It does 2 miles to the gallon. Contemplated not letting him go in it on principle, then decided I would be derided for ever more by the other parents, and gave in. What price principle? Parents derison apparently.
On the plus side, it snowed as we were driving back - beautifully draped snow over the hills. Even the kids loved it. No snow on the road at all until we got to the sign saying 'Welcome to X'. The gritter turns around at the sign. No matter - the 3 hairpin bends were hairy but fun.
Snuggled up beside a warm fire now whilst son number 1 enjoys peace and quiet without his brother. I shall knit for a bit I think now. It is appropriate when sat beside an open fire to knit. And drink coffee. And maybe to smoke a pipe while I think about it.
Friday, 19 November 2010
A meh day, leading to yet more introspection
Today I'm on the whole, meh.
Day started with me missing a date to file witness statements. Innocent enough, and easily rectified, but led to me questioning my entire existence (again) . My gran would have blamed it on the change in season.
Lots of clients demanding and demanding. Always, it's the ones who have no urgency. The clients who are truly deserving are the ones who 'don't like to bother you'. The ones whose husbands raped them repeatedly over a number of years don't like to ask for anything. The ones who kicked their husbands out and just want them out of their lives for good because they've moved on are the shouty complaining ones (and don't want to know that their letter got bumped for an urgent injunction).
Inherently, I'm not good at my job. Today I'm not anyway. Tomorrow I might have convinced myself I'm adequate. I have difficulty biting my tongue, both with clients and lawyers. Rather unfortunately my face shows my emotions all too clearly, whatever I do to push my expression into one of rapt attention.
This is why I liked criminal law. I liked being able to tell clients to sit the fuck down, stop spitting, listen, and no - you're not getting bail. It was all out there - no pretending, no bullshit, no social work speak. I liked my clients, and they liked me. I struggle with the endless meetings, and reports and multi-agency rapport of family law. It usually achieves little, and frustrates the hell out of clients. And me. If this government really wanted to save money, it needs to start with how appalling are the current state of Child Services in this country. But I will save that for another rant - it deserves concentrated ire.
Most of my morbid introspection is that I quite simply can't cope with other people's emotions. Not entirely. Why can I cope with a 12 year old telling me that he smashes windows and drinks because nobody cares about him? That the staff in the privately run 'care' home he is in report him to the police every time he smashes a mug in sheer frustration? That if he is released from police custody at 3am, he will have to walk 5 miles home by himself because his parents are pissed and don't give a shit?
Maybe it's because I'm seeing the other side now - I'm dealing with the parents of that kid arguing that the kids should stay with their incompetent parent, and the bitchy women who just want the ex out of their lives even if it means their kids never see their dad.
As for Children in Need tonight? I can't watch it - the celebrities touting their new single or TV series to promote child welfare? All the money in the world won't make a kid feel wanted by its parents.
In the end, I'm in the wrong job. If I didn't do this job, nothing would happen. I'm arrogant and naive enough to still want to make a difference.
This blog was meant to be a way of me exorcising my rants so that family and friends weren't constantly subjected to my raging about the state of the world. I am slightly concerned that all it is doing is creating new improved rants. Maybe I need to join with society and not give a shit - put my blinkers firmly on and go partying every weekend. They seem pretty happy. Why aren't I?
Mind, we haven't even started on my personal life, which is both immensely complicated to me and boring to anyone else. I do yearn for some simplicity and control over it. Men appear to dominate it - 2 sons, an irritating ex and my current beau. Well, apart from my matriarchal mother. Maybe I will only get simplicity when the kids have left home, and I can finally live the life of a hermit. Never mind winning the lottery, solitude would do me fine.
Day started with me missing a date to file witness statements. Innocent enough, and easily rectified, but led to me questioning my entire existence (again) . My gran would have blamed it on the change in season.
Lots of clients demanding and demanding. Always, it's the ones who have no urgency. The clients who are truly deserving are the ones who 'don't like to bother you'. The ones whose husbands raped them repeatedly over a number of years don't like to ask for anything. The ones who kicked their husbands out and just want them out of their lives for good because they've moved on are the shouty complaining ones (and don't want to know that their letter got bumped for an urgent injunction).
Inherently, I'm not good at my job. Today I'm not anyway. Tomorrow I might have convinced myself I'm adequate. I have difficulty biting my tongue, both with clients and lawyers. Rather unfortunately my face shows my emotions all too clearly, whatever I do to push my expression into one of rapt attention.
This is why I liked criminal law. I liked being able to tell clients to sit the fuck down, stop spitting, listen, and no - you're not getting bail. It was all out there - no pretending, no bullshit, no social work speak. I liked my clients, and they liked me. I struggle with the endless meetings, and reports and multi-agency rapport of family law. It usually achieves little, and frustrates the hell out of clients. And me. If this government really wanted to save money, it needs to start with how appalling are the current state of Child Services in this country. But I will save that for another rant - it deserves concentrated ire.
Most of my morbid introspection is that I quite simply can't cope with other people's emotions. Not entirely. Why can I cope with a 12 year old telling me that he smashes windows and drinks because nobody cares about him? That the staff in the privately run 'care' home he is in report him to the police every time he smashes a mug in sheer frustration? That if he is released from police custody at 3am, he will have to walk 5 miles home by himself because his parents are pissed and don't give a shit?
Maybe it's because I'm seeing the other side now - I'm dealing with the parents of that kid arguing that the kids should stay with their incompetent parent, and the bitchy women who just want the ex out of their lives even if it means their kids never see their dad.
As for Children in Need tonight? I can't watch it - the celebrities touting their new single or TV series to promote child welfare? All the money in the world won't make a kid feel wanted by its parents.
In the end, I'm in the wrong job. If I didn't do this job, nothing would happen. I'm arrogant and naive enough to still want to make a difference.
This blog was meant to be a way of me exorcising my rants so that family and friends weren't constantly subjected to my raging about the state of the world. I am slightly concerned that all it is doing is creating new improved rants. Maybe I need to join with society and not give a shit - put my blinkers firmly on and go partying every weekend. They seem pretty happy. Why aren't I?
Mind, we haven't even started on my personal life, which is both immensely complicated to me and boring to anyone else. I do yearn for some simplicity and control over it. Men appear to dominate it - 2 sons, an irritating ex and my current beau. Well, apart from my matriarchal mother. Maybe I will only get simplicity when the kids have left home, and I can finally live the life of a hermit. Never mind winning the lottery, solitude would do me fine.
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
On Increased Marginalisation From Society
This is my first ever blog. Please be gentle. On the other hand maybe no-one will read it. I don't mind - I just need an outlet that doesn't make my family and friends run for the hills screaming SHUT UP!
Now today's blog has 2 edges: my self imposed marginalisation, and the inane Legal Aid cuts announced yesterday by Mr 'I'm-the-Churchill-dog-understudy' Ken Clarke. One impacts on the other, and not in a good way.
This gentle, caring unelected government has announced that Legal Aid will be cut from those most in need. This includes debt, employment, welfare benefits, education and most of family law (including divorce and contact). In effect this means if you lose your well paid job and then try to claim benefits, can't keep up with your loan repayments, fall behind in your rent/mortgage, and your wife/husband leaves you for the fitness instructor, then it's all up to you to do something about it. Ken doesn't care if you're depressed/suicidal/disabled about it.
Given my job (solicitor for a social welfare charity), I am appalled and astounded by the deep tendon cuts that have been announced. I immediately search the media for equally appalled articles and editorials. Apart from the Guardian (which marvellously and intelligently covers every aspect), the media quite simply just. don't. care.
Why? Because insiduously (yes, yes I can't spell it, but I am 3 glasses in ) the media has relentlessly portrayed Legal Aid and its solicitors as fat cats on the inimitable gravy train. And it has worked. The 'general public' genuinely think that they will never need Legal Aid because it is for the scum of society who quite frankly don't deserve any rights. They got themselves into their mess, and they ought to get themselves out.
When did compassion and caring stop? Am I the archetypal softie leftie liberal? Am I wrong to think that those who have been lucky enough in society to have had a caring family, a good education, a good job and people who love us should lend a hand to those who haven't? When did we start stomping on those who haven't ever had a chance to have what we do?
This is where my self-imposed marginalisation starts - I don't WANT to be part of that society. I don't WANT to aspire to want and desire and need at the expense of others. And if I am wrong to not want that, then I will self marginalise. Rather ironically just like those that Ken and the rest of his ConDemNation wish to pretend don't exist.
Now today's blog has 2 edges: my self imposed marginalisation, and the inane Legal Aid cuts announced yesterday by Mr 'I'm-the-Churchill-dog-understudy' Ken Clarke. One impacts on the other, and not in a good way.
This gentle, caring unelected government has announced that Legal Aid will be cut from those most in need. This includes debt, employment, welfare benefits, education and most of family law (including divorce and contact). In effect this means if you lose your well paid job and then try to claim benefits, can't keep up with your loan repayments, fall behind in your rent/mortgage, and your wife/husband leaves you for the fitness instructor, then it's all up to you to do something about it. Ken doesn't care if you're depressed/suicidal/disabled about it.
Given my job (solicitor for a social welfare charity), I am appalled and astounded by the deep tendon cuts that have been announced. I immediately search the media for equally appalled articles and editorials. Apart from the Guardian (which marvellously and intelligently covers every aspect), the media quite simply just. don't. care.
Why? Because insiduously (yes, yes I can't spell it, but I am 3 glasses in ) the media has relentlessly portrayed Legal Aid and its solicitors as fat cats on the inimitable gravy train. And it has worked. The 'general public' genuinely think that they will never need Legal Aid because it is for the scum of society who quite frankly don't deserve any rights. They got themselves into their mess, and they ought to get themselves out.
When did compassion and caring stop? Am I the archetypal softie leftie liberal? Am I wrong to think that those who have been lucky enough in society to have had a caring family, a good education, a good job and people who love us should lend a hand to those who haven't? When did we start stomping on those who haven't ever had a chance to have what we do?
This is where my self-imposed marginalisation starts - I don't WANT to be part of that society. I don't WANT to aspire to want and desire and need at the expense of others. And if I am wrong to not want that, then I will self marginalise. Rather ironically just like those that Ken and the rest of his ConDemNation wish to pretend don't exist.
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