The Prime Minister is facing a Labour rebellion as dozens of MPs have signed an open letter in opposition to the plans to scrap jury trials.
Karl Turner MP took to social media to express the anger that himself and colleagues were feeling towards the proposed plans.
38 MPs have signed the letter that requests the proposal to be paused until evidence can be provided that it would actually reduce the backlog in courts.
Mr Turner said he has “pleaded” with Sir Keir Starmer “not to march us all up the hill to be marched back down again”.
He added that MPs, even beyond the 38 that have signed the letter, would be ready to “rebel if necessary”.
In the letter, MPs describe the plans as an “ineffective way of dealing with the crippling backlog”, and that they will have an “incredibly limited impact”, while “depriving individuals of a fundamental right”.
The plans, announced by Justice Secretary David Lammy earlier this month, were to scrap all jury trials for crimes that carry a likely sentence of less than three years.
But they have faced fierce backlash, and none more so than Shadow Justice Secretary, Robert Jenrick, who recently told GB News: “You’ve got a right that we’ve enjoyed in this country to a jury trial for at least 800 years, perhaps even longer than that, being tossed aside by Keir Starmer and David Lammy because of administrative failure by the Ministry of Justice.”
The open letter proves to be the latest in a string of headaches for the Prime Minister, who is also seeing his ratings in the polls continue to plummet.
