Rob Rinder said he would “no doubt” hit his fellow lawyers.
On Monday, lawyers across the country came out in support of the Criminal Bar Association’s (CBA) action against the current legal aid advocacy fees.
The presenter and criminal lawyer, known for his TV show Judge Rinder, passionately defended the strike.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, he pointed out that many lawyers do their jobs because of their belief in the rightness of the law in the UK – not because of the money.
Robb added: “If I was – I am – still a member of my grand chambers, I’d be on strike no doubt.”
Speaking of those starting out, he said: “I’m not the youngest member of the bar to start the bar with over £100,000 in debt and on £12,000 a year.”
“Let’s talk about what kind of democracy we are. If there is no access, there is no rule of law… our justice is meaningless,” he added.
Rob went on to argue that many lawyers are not in it for the money.
“The lawyers who do this kind of work – not the fat cats – the reality is they don’t want to go on strike,” he added.
“They’re not in it to be rich. They get into it because they believe in this country and the rule of law.
Joe Sidhu, president of the Criminal Bar Association, said of Monday’s strikes: “We are currently engulfed in a crisis of epic proportions, never before seen in this country, which has brought the system we all love to a standstill.
“Last year we lost another 300 criminal lawyers, why? Because they couldn’t do that job anymore with what they were being paid and for the hours they were working.
“These workforce shortages are causing increasing misery for victims and defendants who desperately wait, sometimes for years, to receive justice and see their cases finally resolved in court.”
Although the strikes centered around a proposed 15% increase in fees, which the CBA described as “inadequate” after a 30% drop in income over the past two decades, lawyers also described a justice system devastated by the defunding of its core parts.
In a submission to the Treasury as part of the spending review, the Bar Council found that publicly funded criminal lawyers earn less than £13,000 a year before tax in their first two years of practice.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV.
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