Keir Starmer faces large menace of rebel as dozens of MPs slam ‘insanity’ jury plan
Keir Starmer is facing the threat of a rebellion from angry Labour MPs over plans to reduce the number of cases that go to jury trials – the MPs have sent him a warning letter
Keir Starmer is facing the threat of a rebellion from angry Labour MPs over plans to reduce the number of cases that go to jury trials.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, almost 40 of his MPs have branded the proposals “madness” and called on Mr Starmer to change course.
The letter, spearheaded by Labour MP Karl Turner, warned the “drastic restriction” of the right to jury trials is “not a silver bullet”. “Many more MPs, not on this letter, have said they will rebel if necessary,” Mr Turner wrote as he shared the letter on social media.
The letter, which was signed by 38 MPs including Mother of the House of Commons Diane Abbott, branded the Government’s proposals “an ineffective way of dealing with the crippling backlog in cases in our criminal system”.
It continued: “The drastic restriction of the right to trial by jury is not a silver bullet. To limit a fundamental right for what will make a marginal difference to the backlog, if any, is madness and will cause more problems than it solves.”
READ MORE: Criminals facing sentences of less than three years to lose jury trial access
Justice Secretary David Lammy earlier this month announced plans for criminals facing sentences of less than three years to lose access to jury trials. It would see the number of cases going to juries is expected to halve from 3% to 1.5%.
Juries will still remain for the most serious crimes including rape, murder, kidnap, rioting, terrorism and robbery, which are known as “indictable” offences and must be heard in the Crown Court. Ministers have insisted they must reduce jury trials to help cut the courts backlog, which sits at nearly 80,000 cases and is leaving victims waiting years for justice.
But the letter says solutions to the courts crisis should focus on investing in more judges, increasing the number of court sitting days and reducing delays in prisoner transport to court hearings.
The MPs said: “Around 130,000 sitting days are available to the courts, yet, despite a capacity crisis, sitting days are restricted by 20,000 a year.” It welcomed Government plans to increase the number of sitting days by 5,000 but warned there is “still a substantial shortfall”.
The letter concluded: “It is our belief that the public will not stand for the erosion of a fundamental right, particularly given that there are numerous other things the Government can do to more effectively reduce the backlog.
“We urge you to think again and come back to the House with a more credible proposal. This problem was not caused by jurors, nor will it be fixed by their eradication from public duty. Every day during the Second World War juries continued to sit reverting from 12 to 7 jurors, we are not at war!”
In the Commons last week, Keir Starmer told Mr Turner – who confronted him on the issue at Prime Minister’s Questions – that “juries will remain a cornerstone of our justice system for the most serious cases”.
Since being elected, the PM suffered his biggest rebellion in July over his benefit cuts plan. Some 49 Labour MPs voted against the government despite controversial proposals to slash Personal Independence Payments being dropped.
