Prime Minister ‘ought to be ashamed’ for scrapping jury trials, Labour MP says

Sir Keir Starmer “ought to be ashamed of himself” over the Government’s proposed changes to jury trials, according to a Labour MP.

Karl Turner, a former barrister, said removing the right to a jury trial in some cases is “not something the Labour Party believes in”.

The Kingston-upon-Hull MP broke the party whip for the first time since becoming an MP in 2010 to vote against the proposals.

Mr Turner was the only Labour MP to vote against the Government but said he is confident of getting enough party support to defeat the proposals if legislation is brought forward later this year.

Speaking on Times Radio, he said: “I was absolutely stunned by this policy.

“I texted Keir and said to him he ought to be ashamed of himself. I’m completely ashamed of David Lammy.

“Lammy is the Justice Secretary who’s fallen for the civil servants’ trick.

“Every single justice secretary for the last two decades has been asked by officials to do away with some jury trials, but David Lammy is the fool who fell for the trick.

“We are absolutely seething with the Government, with the Prime Minister and with David Lammy.

“I’ve said to the Prime Minister, I want to see him face to face on this single issue, and I expect him to instruct Lammy to stop.”

Mr Turner said Sir Keir was bringing forward a policy which “as a former human rights lawyer he ought to be raving mad about”.

“The truth is that a single judge will have to go away and decide the reasons and write those reasons down … which is not a short process.

“Every single barrister in the criminal justice system is saying it’s a bad idea and it won’t work.”

The Government has said it will drop jury trials for offences with a likely prison sentence of three years or less.

The ability to appeal a magistrates court verdict to a crown court will also be limited.

The measures follow a review into the justice system conducted by retired senior judge Sir Brian Leveson. The Government has yet to bring legislation forward.

Mr Turner said he hoped he would be supported by enough Labour rebels to vote the proposals down.

“If they’re daft enough to put this legislation forward … I’m confident we’ll defeat it. I think there are enough others,” he said.

“This is not a Labour Party thing, doing away with the right to elect to a jury trial is not something the Labour Party believes in.

“I don’t know what Keir Starmer believes in. If he believes in this idea, I’m afraid I’m ashamed of him.”