MICHAEL Sheridan’s solution to the current Scottish legal aid funding crisis (Letters, December 2) would turn the clock back 600 years to 1424.

He advocates that solicitors be compelled to work a certain number of hours, free of charge to the clients needing their services, or to pay an equivalent sum of money towards that provision.

Lest Mr Sheridan is unfamiliar with the debate in the House of Lords on 7 July 1949 when the Legal Aid and Solicitors (Scotland) Bill had its second reading, let me quote from Hansard: “The representation of poor persons by counsel and solicitors in civil and criminal cases in Scotland has a long and honourable tradition dating back to Acts of the Scottish Parliament of the years 1424 and 1587.

“It is true that the history of legal aid in Scotland reflects the utmost credit on the legal profession, and it would be ungenerous not to pay due acknowledgement to the extremely meritorious way in which counsel and solicitors have in the past made their services available in poor persons.”

My father trained as a solicitor after discharge from the RAF in 1945. He told me of the “Poor Law” as it was known. For six months after qualifying all solicitors were compelled to provide their services free, and I mean free, to persons of nil/low income. No payment was ever received. It meant that, in the main, those charged with the lesser summary offences or with complex civil claims might be represented by solicitors of only a few months’ experience.

Legal Aid was introduced in 1949 to ensure that properly funded and experienced legal representation was available to all partly because, and I quote Hansard: “The existing system, however, is subject to criticism in present-day conditions. First, the income limits are generally regarded as being too low. The cost of living has risen considerably, and wages have risen; and while more people are in need of legal aid fewer are eligible for it.”

And now the wheel has turned full circle, and we are with legal aid funding back exactly where we started.

But Mr Sheridan’s solution is that solicitors would recoup of the cost of compelled work by increasing fees charged to other privately funded clients. If he truly believes that would work in the cut-throat legal services market, that clients paying for their own legal services would willingly pay substantially more for the cost of compelled civil and criminal representation for others then I have a nearly built ferry I could sell him.

I would ask Mr Sheridan this: would he work for his employer on a compulsory basis without pay or other benefits? And if he would not, then why should he expect me and all other solicitors to do so?

Alasdair Sampson, Stewarton.

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Three bodies in any pregnancy

THE article by Gemma Clark ("It’s no wonder girls and women feel unsafe in our schools amid little or no government action" ,The Herald November 27) highlighted well many attitudes that must be addressed by our society.

Regarding the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children providing no pro-choice alternative during presentations delivered at schools, those who take a pro-life stance have made the choice to be pro-life. The young people already know that abortion is readily available and may well know someone who has had one. The pro-life movement highlights that there is an alternative to abortion because the pro-abortion sentiment is generally much stronger in our culture than the pro life one.

Ms Clark claims that girls should be receiving a clear message that they own and decide what to do with their bodies. But there are always three bodies involved in any pregnancy: a male, a female and a baby.

Rape is invasive and traumatic for the woman and abortion is also invasive and traumatic. Another aspect of misogyny is that while many women would prefer to keep their babies they are coerced into having an abortion by controlling partners.

Irene Munro, Conon Bridge.

Jargon jeopardy

I RAISED a few hackles when I asked on these pages recently for ScotRail to cut the constant cackle on trains of endlessly tedious announcements.

What I didn’t expect was a wordy response from Nestransinfo (yes, that’s what they call themselves) informing me of such stultifying terms as Passenger Information Systems; Department for Transport Smarter Journeys Initiative; Platform Train Interface; Rail Safety and Standards Board; and the fact that “passenger train operators are mandated to take all means possible to reduce the risk of….accidents”.

The gold-plated tripe includes “the risk to passengers at the Platform Train Interface is equivalent to nearly 13 fatalities per year”. What does “nearly 13” mean? Is it 11 or 12, or maybe a fraction of a fatality, thus begging the question: how many twisted ankles or bruised elbows equate to a fatality?

Is it simply an extension of the mindset that’s given us “See it, say it, sorted”?

Gordon Casely, Crathes.

French lesson for Glasgow

WHAT a wonderful sight to see the magnificent Notre-Dame cathedral restored to all its glory after such a devastating fire ("Notre-Dame reborn: The first look", The Herald, November 30). Will the multiple parties with fingers in the pie ever bring The Mackintosh building back to its former glory?

Bill Sang, Stirling.

Will the Glasgow School of Art ever be resotred (Image: Newsquest)

Devolution bonus

FRASER Grant (Letters, November 30) calls for powers over broadcasting in Scotland to be devolved. I could support this proposal if it comes with a guarantee that Strictly Come Dancing, EastEnders and Celebrity MasterChef are excluded from our TV screens.

Scott Simpson, Bearsden.

Unhealthy interest

NEIL Scott (Letters, November 30) mentions the scarcity of GP appointments.

In days of yore, when no one had thought of an appointments system, our estimable GP, Dr Barr, would relate how, if the Sunday Post doc recommended having one's ears syringed, there would be a queue of patients outside the surgery on a Monday morning, all suddenly aware of wax in their ears.

Those were the days?

David Miller, Milngavie.