Obiter would like to congratulate Helen Grant on her ascension to a ministerial role at the Ministry of Justice.

The Maidstone MP, who entered parliament only in 2010, replaces Jonathan Djanogly, who has been given the chance to spend more time with his constituents after the reshuffle. But perhaps someone might need to have a quiet word with Grant, who went distinctly off-message in a Guardian interview last year.

Responding to the government’s green paper proposal to remove £350m of public funding from family and other civil law, she warned that to stem the flow of legal aid could prove ‘devastating’.

She went on: ‘Let us be clear about who these cuts will affect: a third of legal-aid clients who have received advice on debt, and a staggering two-thirds of those needing advice on benefits, have an illness or disability. It cannot be right that those most in need of support are left without it.

‘Our country’s financial health is a priority, but not at the cost of basic social justice. Perhaps we should be thinking more laterally and look to other government departments to share the responsibility.’

How refreshing to see a politician not afraid to speak out for what they believe in, even against their own party, using the benefit of their experience to put forward such a cogent debate.

Of course, the subsequent cuts to legal aid were voted through and will take effect from next year. Among those who voted with the government? You guessed it, Helen Grant MP.