I recently spoke at a public meeting organised by the Leicester Civil Rights Movement and Action Advice Leicester about the Government’s cuts to legal aid.

I believe legal aid is a fundamental component of our legal system. Ensuring people aren’t excluded from the courts because of a lack of finance is crucial to ensuring the principle of equality before the law is upheld.

The Tory-led Government is cutting £350 million from legal aid. These cuts will mean remove all help for debt advice, welfare benefits, education, employment issues and clinical negligence. The Government’s own impact assessment of the cuts says that women, people from black and ethnic minority communities, and those on low incomes will be hit the hardest.

These cuts are also likely to end up costing more in the long run. Without early stage legal advice, many of the problems people face will escalate, resulting in a greater cost to the taxpayer further down the line. The Law Society has come up with an alternative package of cuts to legal aid that would save money but still protect the poorest. I am urging the Government to stop, think again and work with the Law Society and other organisations to change its plans.

On Monday I took part in a House of Commons debate about the Government’s ‘Big Society’.

The Government claims the ‘Big Society’ is about giving power to local people, and supporting voluntary and community organisations.  But in reality the ‘Big Society’ is about rolling back the state, using markets alone to drive change in public services, and leaving communities to fend for themselves.

Leicester’s voluntary organisations make a huge contribution to our city. Many of them depend on money from central and local government to fund the fantastic work they do.

The speed and severity of the Government’s public spending cuts threatens the existence of many of these organisations, and makes a mockery of the Conservative’s claim they want to create a ‘Big Society’ or that ‘we’re all in it together’.

I’m a long standing champion of the voluntary sector and of giving local people and communities a greater say about decisions that affect their lives, and about the public services they pay for and use. Leicester’s third sector is a huge asset and resource for our city. We must fight to protect and nurture it – now and for future generations.

To read Liz’s full speech click here.

You can also read Liz’s latest Leicester Mercury column on why we must fight to protect local charities from the Government’s spending cuts here.

On Thursday I gave a speech at De Montfort University about how we can make sure very child has the chance to fulfil their potential.

Despite very real improvements over the last decade, too many children are still held back by the circumstances of their birth – by where they’re born, not their potential to achieve. This harms their own life chances and choices, and our wider economy and society – as people’s skills and talents are held back, neglected or lost.

There is now clear evidence that the very earliest years of life are crucial to shaping children’s later opportunities. Experience from other countries shows that investing in high quality early years services can transform opportunities and save money in the long run.

You can read the full speech here.

Every 36 hours, NHS services are used by some 1 million people, the vast majority of whom receive safe and effective care. None the less, as in every other health care system in the world, not all care in the NHS is as safe as it could be, and too many patients are harmed by it, sometimes seriously and even fatally.

Modern health services are delivered in a highly complex, often pressurised, environment, and involve the care of many vulnerable and seriously ill patients. More than any other environment in which risks occur, health care is reliant on people taking difficult decisions that rely on judgments that are not always straightforward or clear cut. In such circumstances, things can and do go wrong. Sometimes, as I know from my own experience, the consequences can be very serious for the patient, their family and their carers.

Patients and their families have a right to know if something has gone wrong, to get an explanation of what has happened and to receive an apology and, if appropriate, compensation.

To read Liz’s full speech, click here.