{"id":823,"date":"2015-07-30T15:11:40","date_gmt":"2015-07-30T14:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/?p=823"},"modified":"2015-07-30T16:54:06","modified_gmt":"2015-07-30T15:54:06","slug":"medway-law-student-interviewed-by-sky-news-and-national-radio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/medway-law-student-interviewed-by-sky-news-and-national-radio\/","title":{"rendered":"Medway law student interviewed by Sky news and national radio"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/del>Medway law student Gemma Blythe has been interviewed by Sky News and a national radio station this week, both broadcasters seeking her perspective on the latest cuts to legal aid.<\/p>\n

Gemma, a stage 2 LLB Law student studying part-time at the University of Kent’s Medway campus, is an active committee member of Young Legal Aid Lawyers<\/a> (YLAL) and a founding member of the YLAL Kent<\/a> group. She also works as a Criminal Caseworker for law firm Kent Defence.<\/p>\n

In the Sky News article \u2018Barristers strike over cuts to legal aid<\/a>\u2019, Gemma was interviewed along with Jonathan Black, president of the London Criminal Court Solicitors Association, Joanne Cecil, a barrister at Garden Court Chambers, and a Ministry of Justice spokesperson. Her views were sought after barristers made a decision to strike in solidarity with criminal defence solicitors, who face cuts of 8.75% to their fees. Gemma was quoted as saying: \u2018Those who cannot afford to pay for a solicitor, and those who are denied legal aid, are suffering at the hands of the Government.\u2019<\/p>\n

In the same week, former BBC sports presenter Georgie Frost interviewed Gemma for her daily \u2018Consuming Issues\u2019 show, a consumer finance programme on Share Radio. In the interview<\/a>, Gemma details how ongoing cuts to legal aid are dramatically affecting the amount that solicitors and barristers are paid and how ‘proper pay’ for legal professionals is important to ensure the best representation possible for clients seeking justice.<\/p>\n

In addition to her work with YLAL, Gemma is an active blogger, posting articles about legal aid, many of which have been picked up and published on websites such as, OpenDemocracy, LegalVoice and The Justice Gap. She\u2019s also been featured in Cilex Journal<\/em> (with her photo on the front cover) in a story about students identified as wanting \u2018to change the world.\u2019<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Gemma wrote an article<\/a> for the Solicitors Journal<\/em> celebrating 10 years of the Young Legal Aid Lawyers group.<\/p>\n

Follow Gemma on her blog \u2018Thoughts on the criminal Justice System<\/a>\u2019 and on Twitter @gemma_blythe<\/a><\/p>\n