Courts and Tribunals Bill: Scrapping Jury Trials

304 MPs voted for the Courts and Tribunals Bill at second reading, which replaces juries with a single judge for cases with sentences up to 3 years. 100 Labour MPs failed to back it — 10 voted against and 90 abstained.

3,200 lawyers wrote to the PM urging the government to abandon the reforms. Lawyers marched on Parliament in protest. The Law Society called it an 'extreme measure' and the Bar Council warned it 'strikes at a core citizen\'s right.' Labour\'s own 2024 manifesto made no mention of jury trial reform.

The right to jury trial — a cornerstone of British justice for over 800 years — being removed for a huge swathe of criminal cases.