Having your own lawyer is better than legal aid.

Having legal aid is better than having nobody/defending yourself. but you should verify whats said before you commit to any deals.

Legal aid isnt inherently bad, but the system definitely seeks to undermine the defense they can provide you by grossly under funding the legal aid system for the workload it has, that can result in situations where legal aid workers carry inhumanly large case loads and just arent able to give your case the time or attention it should receive.