The following details have been supplied by the TUC:
A top Tory acquitted of criminal charges but left with a £130,000 legal bill is getting a bitter taste of how his party’s policies have hit injured workers. Before his arrest, Conservative MP and former deputy speaker Nigel Evans made statements about the need to cut legal aid and admitted he would probably have voted for the last round of cuts in 2011 had he not been deputy speaker at the time.
Now he says the taxpayer should pick up his legal costs. Since the election the government has ended the system that allowed workers to pursue claims and receive all their damages, leaving them liable to hand over up to 25 per cent of their payout in costs.
The government has also introduced charges for taking a claim to an employment tribunal and slashed legal aid.
In light of his party’s policies, TUC’s Hugh Robertson said it was “incredible” that Nigel Evans should complain that he has been hit with a large costs bill. Writing in TUC’s Stronger Unions blog, the union body’s head of safety said: “Of course it is wrong that an acquitted man should have to pay a penny,” but he added “it is also wrong that, as a result of the actions of him and his party, workers have to pay a proportion of their compensation in legal costs when they are injured at work through no fault of their own and workers who are sacked for being a safety rep have to pay for the privilege of taking their employer to court.” He concludes: “The Tories had absolutely no concern about the effect that their changes would have on injured workers, those seeking justice from their employers, or even those accused of a crime. It is only now, that one of their own has suffered that we hear the call for change. Please forgive me if I do not shed a tear.”
