Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion Siân Berry. Image by Kelly Hill, Wikimedia CC BY-SA 4.0.
Responding to the announcement from the Justice Secretary, David Lammy, that jury trials in England and Wales for crimes that carry a likely sentence of less than three years are set to be scrapped, Green Party MP, Siân Berry, said:
“The focus on victims’ rights is appreciated, but this Labour Government is taking the wrong steps to try to serve us better, and laying the groundwork for further crackdowns on dissent, whistleblowing and protest if it removes juries from so many charges that have state or corporate victims.
“Juries are also a safeguard against creeping bias and discrimination. Judges are not currently representative of our wider communities and, under these plans, individual decisions will be at risk of damaging politicisation, while individual judges who are women or from minoritised communities risk attacks from the far right.
“More than fifteen years of continuing austerity has caused a backlog in the courts, not juries. Instead of dismantling a centuries-old fundamental legal right, the Government must reverse the neglect and cuts that created this mess in the first place.”
The justice secretary, David Lammy, has backed down on previous plans to permit jury trials only for cases carrying sentences of five years. Photograph: House of Commons/PA
Only cases such as murder and rape or offences carrying sentence longer than three years would face jury under plans
David Lammy has been accused of making a “massive mistake” by Labour MPs and peers after announcing radical plans to cut thousands of jury trials across England and Wales.
Defendants will no longer have the option to choose to have their cases heard before a jury, the justice secretary told the Commons. Magistrates’ powers will be extended from dealing with maximum sentences of one year to at least 18 months, he said, and a new judge-led court will be established.
The deputy prime minister has backed down on plans to remove jury trials for all cases involving a maximum jail term of five years after an outcry from MPs, lawyers and campaigners.
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The move means defendants accused of burglary, theft, fraud, sexual assault, stalking, sharing indecent images, drug dealing and criminal damage up to £10,000 could be denied the right to put their case to a jury.
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Labour MPs said the changes would make it harder for defendants and may not reduce the backlog.
Stella Creasy, the MP for Walthamstow, said jury trials only accounted for 3% of cases, asking how much difference curbing them would make. “It’s hard to see how this measure … will address that backlog,” she said.
Clive Efford, the MP for Eltham and Chislehurst and a leading member of the Tribune group, said it could penalise working-class defendants and could lead to an “us-and-them in the criminal justice system”.
Richard Burgon, the left-leaning MP for Leeds East, said the policy sent “a chill through my heart”, and compared it to policies enacted by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.UK Labour Party Foreign Secretary David Lammy repeatedly heckled at a speech to the Fabian Society over his and the Labour Party’s support for and complicity in Israel’s genocide of Gaza.
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Palestinians continue their daily lives with limited resources amid the massive destruction in the Tel al Hawa neighborhood in western Gaza, following Israeli army attacks. [Saeed M. M. T. Jaras – Anadolu Agency]
A UN spokesman on Wednesday urged the full reopening of the Rafah crossing for humanitarian aid and civilian movement, as conflicting reports emerged from Israel and Egypt about whether operations at the key entry point would soon resume, Anadolu reports.
Stephane Dujarric told reporters that the UN is aware of contradictory statements—Israel suggesting the crossing would reopen soon and Egypt denying any such coordination.
“Like you, we’ve seen contradicting reports,” Dujarric said.
“What we want to see is Rafah reopened fully for the movement of humanitarian cargo, for the movements of people, and both for humanitarian workers. If residents of Gaza, Palestinians, want to leave, they need to be able to do so voluntarily and freely without any pressure. And for those residents of Gaza who may have left the enclave a while ago, if they wish to return, they should be able to return,” he added.
Dujarric underscored that any reopening hinges on coordination between Israel and Egypt but insisted that humanitarian imperatives must take precedence.
“What we think we need to see is a reopening of Rafah for humanitarian cargo to be able to go in, for humanitarian workers to go in and out, and for Palestinians who wish to leave to be able to do so freely, safely, without any pressure to do so. And for those who have left and wish to come back, and therefore, they want to come back, they should be able to come back,” he added.
Dujarric said the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) continues to receive reports that air strikes, shelling, gunfire, and other Israeli military operations are causing more civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction in the Gaza Strip.
He said things are “better than” they were before the announcement of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
“But, you know, we’re comparing a horrific situation to an extremely challenging one, to say the least,” he added.
The Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza was scheduled to reopen last October as part of the ceasefire agreement, but it remained closed due to Israel’s non-compliance with the deal.
Since May 2024, the Israeli army has blocked the movement of Palestinians through the crossing, the territory’s only window to the outside world that was not controlled by Tel Aviv before the start of the Israeli onslaught against Gaza in October 2023.
Turning to the Israeli killing of two Palestinian children on Saturday in a drone strike in southern Gaza, Dujarric said it was “horrific to say the least.”
“It’s hard to see how two boys — 8 and 10 — can be considered a threat, and there needs to be an investigation. And accountability for what happened,” he added.
The area targeted by the strike lies within the zones the Israeli army continues to hold under the ceasefire agreement, which took effect in October.
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Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
Starmer with Trump at his golf course in Scotland. (Photo: Chris Furlong / Alamy)
Lawyers for Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, have questioned if the US president influenced the crackdown on the group.
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In July, Declassified issued a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the Cabinet Office regarding Starmer’s two calls with Trump, specifically asking for “all references to Palestine Action”.
In response, the Cabinet Office said it could “neither confirm nor deny if the specific information requested [regarding Palestine Action] is held”, relying on an international relations exemption in the FOI Act.
This exemption allows the government to withhold “confidential information obtained from” a foreign state.
In September, the Cabinet Office upheld its initial decision following a request for an internal review.
The department said: “The information sought relates to sensitive diplomatic communications between the UK and US at the very highest level in the form of direct exchanges between the Prime Minister and President”.
Additional reporting adds weight to the suspicion that the US president may have been lobbying or seeking to influence the UK government with regards to law enforcement of Palestine Action.
On 14 September, The Telegraphreported that: “After Trump Turnberry was vandalised with red paint by pro-Gaza protesters in March, the Prime Minister was asked for updates on those arrested from Police Scotland and briefed Trump personally on developments”.
Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’.Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
A protester takes part in a demonstration in support of “Defend Our Juries” and their campaign against the ban on Palestine Action, outside the Royal Courts of Justice, central London on 26 November 2025 (AFP)
Judges hear secret evidence as lawyers and public for Palestine-Action co-founder told to leave court during closed session
The UK government closed the final day of the judicial review into Palestine Action by presenting secret evidence, hidden from both the group’s lawyers and the public, to justify its ban on the direct-action organisation.
Following brief open-court submissions from government lawyers on Tuesday, the court asked lawyers representing Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori, as well as members of the public and journalists, to leave.
A portion of Tuesday’s hearing was held in closed session to allow the government to present material it says cannot be disclosed on national security grounds.
During these closed proceedings, known as closed material procedures (CMP), Ammori and her legal team replaced by a special advocate appointed by Ammori.
However, the special advocate is not permitted to share the government’s submissions with Ammori or her lawyers.
Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’.Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
