The last days of the Cameron administration part 2: Failing Grayling

Of all the reasons to wish this government gone, Chris Grayling is the largest.

He is shutting poor and much of the working and lower-middle class out of the justice system. In matters as fundamental to a good life as housing, employment protection and freedom from domestic violence, he has placed them beyond the rule of law.

If they go to court, they have no one to plead their cause, while their landlord or employer or ex-husband can hire lawyers to outwit them. The legal system intimidates most potential claimants. They are too frightened and confused to think of representing themselves. I suspect many middle-class graduates are as nervous. Most don’t and won’t go to court, and what were once strong cases pass by in silence.

Since the Ministry of Justice whacked up the fees for employment tribunals the number of individuals bringing claims fell by 70 per cent. You have to be a conservative of the most mulish kind to believe that none or even most of these gagged people did not have an argument worth hearing; that in a Britain where  employers can impose zero-hours contacts and workplace censorship there are 70 per cent fewer unfair dismissals now than a year ago.