https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/dec/02/david-lammy-jury-trials-cuts-labour-mps-peers

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.

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Original article at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/dec/02/david-lammy-jury-trials-cuts-labour-mps-peers