Labour lawyers allege MPs were blocked from briefing on jury-trials overhaul

Labour lawyers were reportedly blocked from briefing Labour MPs on plans to overhaul jury trials as the courts and tribunals bill moves toward a pivotal vote. The reforms would remove the right to a jury trial in thousands of cases, shifting those decisions to judges and magistrates.

Karl Turner, the Hull East MP who chairs a backbench rebellion against the bill, said the Society of Labour Lawyers expressed deep concern about the reforms and that the issues were discussed at the affiliate’s recent executive committee meeting. He noted that around 65 Labour MPs were weighing how to vote ahead of the bill’s second reading on Monday, amid mounting disquiet within the party over the change.

David Lammy, the justice secretary, first announced the plans last December, arguing they would modernize the system even as critics warned they would erode the right to a jury trial. Lammy, drawing on his Tottenham upbringing, framed the debate as a matter of social justice, stressing that the working class and those on remand or in vulnerable cases could be most affected if juries were sidelined. He urged colleagues in the parliamentary Labour party to back the proposals, calling it a molten moment for the British state.

Turner said the policy position of the Society of Labour Lawyers is that the measures are a terrible mistake, are unworkable, and must be stopped, but he added they have been blocked from sharing that position with Labour MPs in a briefing of the sort that would inform members before the vote.

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