A former Conservative Lord Chancellor has questioned Liz Truss’ understanding of legal aid when she served as Justice Secretary.
The attack on her competence, from a senior member of her own party, comes as the frontrunner to become the next prime minister looks set for a fresh row with lawyers.
Barristers are due to strike over pay at the start of September, just as Boris Johnson’s successor is installed.
They are calling for a 25 per cent increase to pay for legal aid work and say the current 15 per cent offer would leave many working for less than the minimum wage.
Ms Truss’s time as Justice Secretary was controversial after she was accused of failing to stand up for the judiciary. The row flared after three judges were dubbed “enemies of the people” by the Daily Mail following a Brexit ruling.
In an interview with The House magazine Lord Mackay, who served as Lord Chancellor, a cabinet post with responsibility for the courts, until 1997, questioned her understanding of the legal aid system.
“I don’t know that Liz Truss had any idea of how legal aid was done,” he said.
“You really need to know something about it,” he added.
At the time she was also criticised for failing to adequately fund legal aid, an accusation Lord Mackay suggested also applied to another former justice secretary Chris Grayling.
“[Graying] was in charge when very tight spending limits were imposed and he was really not prepared to stand up for legal aid in the way I had done,” the Conservative peer said.
“I think a person who is not immersed in the legal system will be prepared to give up what lawyers really need because he or she does not believe they have much support among the public.”
Lord Mackay also criticised the trend in recent years to appoint justice ministers with little legal experience.
But he said the amount of legal aid paid to barristers should be “settled by the courts”.
“In the past, the Bar took a case against one of my predecessors… on the limited size of legal aid,” he said.
“I had no such problem – I was mighty careful how I handled that. I was able to keep legal aid levels up, though I had to open up my guns to do so.
“I wasn’t prepared to stop some of the things I would have preferred not to happen, but if I really came out against, they usually did not happen.”Ms Truss’s campaign has been approached for comment.
