Labour lawyers ‘blocked’ from briefing MPs on jury trials overhaul before vote
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<p>Leader of rebel group says there is deep concern within Society of Labour Lawyers about courts and tribunals bill </p><p>Lawyers affiliated to Labour were “blocked” from briefing party MPs to share concerns about plans to cut the number of jury trials in England and Wales, it has been claimed.</p><p>The allegation was made by Karl Turner, the leader of a backbench rebellion against a flagship government bill that would remove the right to a jury trial in thousand
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Labour lawyers ‘blocked’ from briefing MPs on jury trials overhaul before vote Leader of rebel group says there is deep concern within Society of Labour Lawyers about courts and tribunals bill Lawyers affiliated to Labour were “blocked” from briefing party MPs to share concerns about plans to cut the number of jury trials in England and Wales, it has been claimed. The allegation was made by Karl Turner, the leader of a backbench rebellion against a flagship government bill that would remove the right to a jury trial in thousands of cases, before the first chance by MPs to vote on the legislation. As many as 65 Labour MPs are understood to have been considering voting against the courts and tribunals bill before Monday’s second reading. David Lammy, the justice secretary, announced the plans last December that will take thousands of trials away from the jury system, to be heard instead by judges and magistrates. But the government has been facing discontent from its own ranks, including from 38 MPs who signed a letter urging the prime minister to reverse the plans. Lammy used his own experience of growing up in Tottenham, north London, and appealed to his colleagues’ sense of social justice to make the case for the plans as he addressed a meeting of the p[arliamentary Labour party on Monday night, claiming they had reached “a molten moment for the British state”. He said: “After 14 years of Conservative chaos, our courts aren’t just creaking: they are collapsing. When a public service collapses, it is never the wealthy or the well-connected who fall through the cracks first. It is the working-class boy on remand. It is the survivor of sexual violence waiting three years to give evidence.” Turner, the MP for Hull East who coordinated the letter, said the policies were the subject of deep concern within the Society of Labour Lawyers , one of the party’s oldest affiliates, and were discussed at the body’s executive committee last Friday. “The policy position of the SLL ...
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