Letter: Spinning the levy

Am I the only one who is rather lost by the “spin” put forward by the Society recently in connection with the increase in the levy payable by solicitors to the SLCC? The press release stated that the levy would increase by more than £100 for the “majority” of solicitors, but then moves on to say that “many” solicitors would pay £20 less than the SLCC originally proposed. It is impossible to equate both of those statements with the superlatives contained in each.

On close examination, then, at a time when there are austerity measures all round and companies such as Royal Mail are being lambasted in the press for hiking up prices, we discover that the SLCC’s levy on solicitors has, broadly speaking, risen by 50%.

There appears to be no justification for this, nor has there been any great objection taken to these rises by the profession or our supposed representative body.

It beggars belief that we not only pay for the maintenance and upkeep of this seemingly expanding organisation but meekly allow our contributions to be raised by such gargantuan levels.

Would any sane person pay on an increasingly annual basis to keep a dog which bites? I think not.

Why then has the legal profession allowed this to happen?

Nigel Ford,
Fords, Kirkcaldy