Results of an opinion poll published today shows that the public rate the right to access to justice above that of free health care at the point of use. This new research confirms the findings from previous polls conducted by LAG which indicate strong public support for legal aid services.   YouGov, the respected independent market research company, conducted the latest poll on behalf of the Criminal Law Solicitors’ Association (CLSA). Speaking to LAG today the Vice Chair of CLSA, Robin Murray, said that he was pleasantly surprised by the results which indicted 84% of people saw access to justice as a fundamental right for all British Citizens slightly ahead of the right to health care. He added that he was “genuinely pleased” as well that 89% of the respondents to the poll agreed that legal aid was either very or fairly important.   According to Murray the results of the poll show that, “when you cut through the prejudice surrounding access to justice and legal aid peddled by the government, the public understand its importance.” He is urging supporters of the campaign against legal aid cuts to attend a rally organised by CLSA in London on 23rd April.   The CLSA opinion poll findings are similar to those conducted for LAG on civil legal aid services. Polls, undertaken in 2010 and 2012 by the independent market research company NOP for LAG, found that over 80% of respondents believed that advice on civil law should be free to everyone or at least to those on average income or less.   In April 2013 large cuts to the scope of civil legal aid were implemented as part of the government’s deficit reduction policy. Common areas of law such as family, housing, benefits, employment and debt were either cut completely or greatly restricted under the provisions of legislation which had been agreed after much controversy by parliament in the previous year, (the bill suffered a record fourteen defeats in the House of Lords before being eventually forced through by the government).   Our research published in December last year indicated that the cuts in civil legal aid are having a knock-on impact on the NHS. General Practitioners reported a large increase in the number of patients who would have been assisted by advice on benefits, employment, debts and housing.   Other polling research conducted by LAG showed that support for legal aid cuts to reduce the public spending deficit slipped from 34% in 2013 to 23% last year. The findings of the CLSA poll would seem to confirm our contention that people instinctively support legal aid as a means of ensuring access to justice.   If expenditure on legal aid was returned to the previous level of around £2 billion, before the spending cuts of the last two years, this would still be less than the cost of running the National Health Service for just two weeks. LAG argues that the next government should rethink its approach to legal aid and access to justice policy. The results of these polls indicate that the cost of legal aid is a price the public are willing to pay for access to justice.