THE next president of Liverpool Law Society has warned that the country’s legal aid system is facing “the most devastating cuts in its history”.

Steve Cornforth, senior partner at city law firm EAD Solicitors, was speaking as the Legal Aid, Sentencing And Punishment Of Offenders Bill was due to enter its second reading in the House Of Lords.

The Government is proposing to cut the annual legal aid budget by £350m, as part of a wide-ranging overhaul of the criminal justice system.

Justice Secretary Ken Clarke has said he wants to end “compensation culture” by preventing expensive litigation and curbing the activities of “no win, no fee” firms. But a House of Lords committee report issued last week said the legal aid reforms threatened access to justice. It proposed changing the wording to say the Lord Chancellor “must secure that legal aid is made available in order to ensure effective access to justice”.

Mr Cornforth said: “Our legal aid system, of which we have been rightly proud, is facing the most devastating cuts in its history.

“It will no longer be possible to have public funding in many areas of law including welfare benefits, immigration and medical negligence.