Harry Farley,Political correspondentand
Sam Francis,Political reporter
BBC
Hull East MP Karl Turner is leading calls for a rethink on limiting jury trials
Nearly 40 Labour MPs have warned the prime minister they are not prepared to support proposals to limit jury trials in England and Wales.
In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, MPs largely from the left of the party said restricting juries to major offences carrying three-year terms was “madness and will cause more problems than it solves”.
Former shadow attorney general Karl Turner, who organised the letter, said he will vote against Labour for the first time since Sir Keir took charge, branding the plans “simply unworkable”.
The government insisted it would go ahead with the plans, adding they were needed to stop victims “waiting years for justice” amid unprecedented delays in the court system.
Sir Keir’s spokesman said latest official figures published on Friday detailing a record 79,619 backlog in crown court cases showed that “merely tinkering at the edges is simply not enough”.
Speaking earlier to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Turner said the changes were “unjust” and the “right to be heard before a tribunal of their own people” had “existed for something like 800 years”.
“It won’t work and I’m afraid the government are going to have to realise that and change their tune,” he said.
In the letter 39 MPs suggest a number of other ways to reduce the courts backlog, including increasing sitting days, hiring mor
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