Jack Straw has pledged that he will seek to introduce a referral fee ban himself if the government does not act first.

The ex-justice secretary said that he would table an amendment to the government’s Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill – due to be debated in Parliament for the first time today- to end the controversial practice.

Straw, whose comments on referral fees have sparked unprecedented scrutiny on the issue, also welcomed AXA’s move to stop taking them. He said: “I hope other insurers follow suit.”

He had earlier criticised the government in the House of Commons for not including a referral fee ban in the bill, which cracks down on ‘no win, no fee’ agreements.

He said: “The minister has failed in that legislation to tackle at all the scandal of referral fees paid all the way along the chain, from the informant who passes on individuals’ details up the line to insurance companies, where it is then also paid by the insurance companies; and that this scandal will continue, notwithstanding any changes to be introduced in the structure of ownership of solicitors firms.”

Justice minister Jonathan Djanogoly replied that the government was ‘looking at’ referral fees as part of its wider drive to implement the Jackson review of civil litigation costs.

Straw described Djanogoly’s reply as “an extraordinarily lame response from a minister who in one breath admits there is a problem and then refuses to do anything about it.”

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