One must grudgingly admire legal aid minister Jonathan Djanogly’s chutzpah in turning up to this week’s record-breaking London Legal sponsored walk.

For its spectacular success will hopefully go some small way to compensating for the deep cuts to funding for social welfare law that his government is seemingly planning to visit upon those whom the walk is intended to help.

One was reminded of the time Labour’s Hazel Blears joined in protests against the closure of hospital departments in her constituency imposed by the government of which she was a senior member.

But enough of the sniping.

This week’s sterling efforts in London and other towns and cities raised more than £500,000 for legal advice centres, and in the capital practically stopped the traffic by attracting a record 5,000 walkers.

Now in its seventh year, the walk has seen participation rise sharply as lawyers respond to the funding crisis in law centres and pro bono services that provide legal help in areas such as housing, debt and benefits.

Law centres in London alone have seen over half of their funding disappear since the recession began.

What are the chances of a nice, positive story in the tabloids about the altruism of lawyers, as evidenced at one of the biggest public events of recent days?

Sadly, we aren’t holding our breath.