Edgy

I am down to sit tomorrow, and I expect to find that the usually cheery users of the court are a little subdued. The defence community (yes, I know!) are facing large cuts to legal aid that will hasten the mass slaughter of smaller firms, driving their people, or at least the lucky ones, into the arms of the big boys. Court staff, both lay and professional, are on edge as the decision as to who has a job and who has not comes closer. Some of my colleagues are apprehensive about the details of our merger with two neighbouring benches, and the practical effect it will have on them.

I am one who accepts the overriding importance of getting our national finances in order. I shall be inconvenienced - many others face unwelcome change to their lives. Once the dust settles and the rubble is cleared away many of us will be thinking that the result had better be worth all this grief.