Hull MP wins jury trials campaign with Government U-turn

Sir Keir Starmer had attempted to reduce the number of jury trials, which he said would have cut the court backlog.

Hull East MP Karl Turner has won his battle with the Government to curb jury trials, after Andy Burnham U-turned on the controversial policy.

Mr Turner was the leading Labour MP to come out against the proposals introduced under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership in a bid to tackle the court backlog, and eventually had the whip stripped.

Only some fraud and financial offences will now be allowed to be heard before a judge alone without a jury, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said.

Justice Secretary Alex Norris said he decided to “change course” after hearing the “strength of feeling on the proposals”.

The plan faced opposition from MPs and legal professionals concerned over fairness, curtailing rights, and a lack of evidence the move would even help bring down the backlog.

Mr Turner, a barrister like the former prime minister, thanked Mr Burnham “for his support during my campaign”.

He said: “I strongly welcome the fact that the new Justice Secretary, Alex Norris, has rightly binned the unworkable plans to curtail jury trials pursued under the previous Labour prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer.

“I have been pleased to engage directly with the Justice Secretary and his political advisers in recent weeks, and those discussions have been constructive and encouraging.

“While we must await the detail of the Government’s plans before judging how effective they will ultimately be in practice, I am pleased that Prime Minister Andy Burnham has honoured the commitment he gave me to drop the proposed Crown Court Bench Division (CCBD), a new tier of criminal court that I believe would have been unworkable, unjust and undemocratic.

“I have consistently made the case that people facing serious criminal charges deserve the fundamental safeguard of a jury trial, and I am hugely grateful to Andy Burnham for his support during my campaign against David Lammy’s proposals.”

Former justice secretaryMr Lammy, who championed the move, had told MPs the reforms were “desperately needed” to prevent victims facing “agonising delays”.

MoJ figures showed there were 80,829 cases still to be dealt with at the end of June, with the backlog almost doubling since 2020.

Mr Lammy wanted to reserve jury trials for “indictable-only” offences such as murder and rape, and lesser “either-way” offences with a likely sentence of more than three years in prison.

Other cases would instead have been heard by a single crown court judge. It was supported by MPs at the first Commons hurdle earlier this year.

Mr Norris insisted that scrapping the proposal would allow the Government to reduce the backlog faster, as it would require less structural change.

Another change announced by the MoJ will see criminals accused of “relatively minor crimes” losing the right to choose a Crown Court jury trial rather than a magistrates one, with courts having the final say on where “either-way” offences are sent.

The Justice Secretary said: “This Government inherited criminal courts on the brink of collapse, with victims waiting years for their day in court.

“I remain committed to bringing down the backlog and delivering swifter justice for those who so desperately need it.

“But I have heard the strength of feeling on the proposals for increasing the number of judge-alone trials in the crown court and have made the decision to change course.”