Looking at the categories of people from whom the Ministry of Justice proposes to remove legal aid support, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that disabled children might be the most deserving of reprieve.

This is not least because some will be hit twice. Support will be removed for claims where their disability is due to medical negligence at the point of birth. Then those same children, and others whose condition is genetic, or caused by an accident, will have no legal aid to support a challenge to the decision of a special educational needs (SEN) panel that rejects, or even declines to hear, their application to be statemented.

Lawyers of all specialisms should have a special empathetic link to these cases. Such clients have rights in law that are intended to transcend rationing decisions.

A successful obstetrics-related claim unlocks the resources a child needs for their care. A positive SEN decision does the same for their education.

Instances of NHSLA contesting meritorious claims, and of wrong decisions being reversed with legal support in SEN cases, are common enough.

Surely here, legal aid is needed to protect citizens who could not be more vulnerable, or less blameworthy. That the legal aid sums spent on these categories are such a small part of the MoJ’s cuts makes their inclusion appear callous.

Let us hope the MoJ will pay due regard to the alternative cost-saving measures put forward by the Law Society today.