Overview
- Karl Turner warned he could resign his Hull East seat to force a by-election over proposals to remove juries for offences likely to draw sentences of three years or less.
- Turner was the only Labour MP to break the whip in an opposition day vote, telling Sir Keir Starmer he "ought to be ashamed" and accusing David Lammy of backing an unworkable plan.
- The reforms would create judge-only 'swift courts', restrict defendants’ ability to elect jury trials for many either-way offences, and limit appeals from magistrates' courts, while keeping juries for the most serious crimes.
- Legal bodies including the Bar Council, Law Society and Criminal Bar Association oppose the changes, and Turner argues they will not cut delays and are driven by ideology or cost-saving.
- The Ministry of Justice cites an approximately 80,000-case Crown Court backlog, Lammy says judge-only trials could be about 20% quicker, legislation has not been introduced, and a vote has been postponed until at least October.