Lammy defends jury reforms against claims they will worsen racial bias in legal system – as it happened | Politics
Lammy defends jury reforms against claims they will worsen racial bias in legal system
As we have already mentioned in the blog, MPs will debate and vote on the principles of the proposals in the Courts and Tribunals Bill during its second reading today, with the legislation facing a significant backbench rebellion in the Commons.
The justice secretary, David Lammy, has been defending the plans to cut the number of jury trials in England and Wales after intense criticism from legal professionals who argue they erode constitutional principles. Critics also say the plans risk worsening racial bias within the criminal justice system and won’t be that effective at clearing the backlog.
Defending his proposed changes, Lammy said:
double quotation mark The status quo of the broken system does produce injustice, and the burden of that delay is not evenly shared.Black people are 14% more likely to be victims of crime. People from mixed ethnic background, like my children, 43% more likely. Defendants from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds are statistically more likely to be held on remand before trial than white defendants. And as the backlog has grown, remand rates have increased from 16 to 23 weeks.
There is nothing progressive about a young, working-class black or white man sitting in a cell for months on end – no judge, no jury, no end in sight.
There is nothing progressive about a rape victim waiting years for their day in court, there is nothing progressive about the Tory status quo, and that is why tackling delay is in itself a progressive cause.
Key events
Closing summary
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The justice secretary, David Lammy, defended his controversial jury reform plans which are facing a significant backbench rebellion in the Commons as the Courts and Tribunals Bill goes through its second reading.
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Thousands of lawyers have called on the government to drop the proposals to abolish some jury trials, describing them as poorly evidenced and untested.
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Critics also say the plans risk worsening racial bias within the criminal justice system and won’t be that effective at clearing the backlog.
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The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said Treasury policies are always “under review” when asked about the planned fuel duty hike which opposition parties want her to reverse in light of the economic turmoil being caused by the escalating US-Israeli war with Iran.
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A second British ship could be sent to the eastern Mediterranean if the war continues. Landing ship RFA Lyme Bay is being prepared for a potential deployment to the region.
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Nigel Farage was accused of making a U-turn after he said Britain should not get involved in Donald Trump’s war with Iran.
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Rural households that rely on heating oil to warm their homes and provide hot water are facing a “sudden and frightening” surge in their bills, with prices almost trebling since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran eleven days ago.
We are closing the blog now. Thanks for following along. You can read more about the proposed court reforms in this story, in which the safeguarding minister, Jess Phillips, urges fellow MPs to back measures to scrap some jury trials as she reveals she is a victim of the crown court backlog herself. You can read all our political coverage here.
Worst parts of courts bill will be defeated, Labour MP says as he condemns ‘unworkable and unjust’ proposals
Karl Turner, the veteran Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull East who seems to be leading efforts to defeat the proposals, has said the government’s jury changes are “unworkable, unjust, unpopular and unnecessary”.
The former barrister said he would abstain from voting and believes parliamentary scrutiny of the bill will lead to it being changed. Turner told The Times earlier that had at least 67 names of MPs willing to vote against the government line if the justice secretary, David Lammy, did not offer concessions.
Speaking in the Commons on Tuesday, Turner said:
double quotation mark Jury trial curtailment, the extended powers for sentencing in the magistrates, the removal of the right to elect jury trial for less than three years’ tariff, doing away with the automatic right, which is essentially what it is for appeal from the magistrates, is concerning.I am more confident now than ever I was that the worst parts of this Bill, will be defeated at amendment stage, and I ask sincerely to my honourable and right honourable friends to let this have a second reading today, and let us make progress to get rid of the bits of this bill which are completely unworkable, unpopular, unjust and unnecessary.
I remain firmly opposed to any erosion of trial by jury. I will abstain at 2nd Reading and work to amend the Bill to remove its worst parts. Today isn’t the moment to defeat the Government, but as the Bill progresses I’m confident we can win the argument. Watch my speech below. pic.twitter.com/Lmv9wTlc7s
— Karl Turner MP (@KarlTurnerMP) March 10, 2026
Some interesting research has been carried out by the Institute for Government (IfG) thinktank which says the reforms remove a number of important legal safeguards for many defendants, including the right to choose a jury trial and the automatic right of appeal from magistrates courts.
In the government’s own impact assessment of the bill, it suggests that in the third quarter of 2025, 41% of appeals against conviction (at magistrates) were (at least partly) successful.
Cassia Rowland, report author and IfG senior researcher, said restricting an individual’s right to appeal seriously risked undermining justice. She said:
double quotation mark The dire situation in the criminal courts requires action. But the government’s current proposals risk prioritising speed over justice by restricting people’s right both to a jury trial and to appeal.Having serious cases involving two years in prison decided by two or three volunteer magistrates would make England and Wales an outlier among our peers and pose a risk of miscarriages of justice.
Lammy defends jury reforms against claims they will worsen racial bias in legal system
As we have already mentioned in the blog, MPs will debate and vote on the principles of the proposals in the Courts and Tribunals Bill during its second reading today, with the legislation facing a significant backbench rebellion in the Commons.
The justice secretary, David Lammy, has been defending the plans to cut the number of jury trials in England and Wales after intense criticism from legal professionals who argue they erode constitutional principles. Critics also say the plans risk worsening racial bias within the criminal justice system and won’t be that effective at clearing the backlog.
Defending his proposed changes, Lammy said:
double quotation mark The status quo of the broken system does produce injustice, and the burden of that delay is not evenly shared.Black people are 14% more likely to be victims of crime. People from mixed ethnic background, like my children, 43% more likely. Defendants from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds are statistically more likely to be held on remand before trial than white defendants. And as the backlog has grown, remand rates have increased from 16 to 23 weeks.
There is nothing progressive about a young, working-class black or white man sitting in a cell for months on end – no judge, no jury, no end in sight.
There is nothing progressive about a rape victim waiting years for their day in court, there is nothing progressive about the Tory status quo, and that is why tackling delay is in itself a progressive cause.
Young people to be offered new ‘V-levels’ under major qualification reforms
In other news, students in England will be able to take a new qualification known as V-levels from 2027 which will focus on career-related learning.
The first of the government’s new vocational qualifications – courses equivalent to a single A-level – will be in education, finance and digital.
From September 2028, further V-levels could be rolled out in business, care services, construction, engineering, health, legal, sales, and sports, fitness and exercise science, though these are subject to confirmation.
V-levels will sit alongside A-levels and T-levels, enabling young people to mix vocational and academic subjects in a combined programme of study.
The education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said in a government press release that:
double quotation mark Our bold reforms will end the snobbery in post-16 education, supporting young people with real choice and real opportunity to build secure, future‑proof careers.Not only that, but it will give parents much-needed confidence in a system that values every route to success – academic, technical or vocational – as we continuing driving forward our mission to ensure two‑thirds of young people are in education, training or apprenticeships by 25.
The reforms come amid a youth employment crisis, with the ONS saying the number of 16-24-year-olds who were not in education, employment or training (Neet) rose to 957,000 in the final three months of 2025, equating to 12.8% of this age group.
Ministers argue the existing landscape of vocational courses can be confusing for students and aim to simplify choice with the new reforms, which are designed to tailor learning with the skills employers actually need. From 2027, legacy qualifications including BTecs will be defunded when there are T or V-levels that overlap.
Ben Quinn
Plans to curtail the number of jury trials in England and Wales have been described as “unpopular, untested and poorly evidenced” by thousands of lawyers who have written to the prime minister.
The letter to Keir Starmer, a former director of public prosecutions, from 3,200 lawyers, including 300 senior barristers, comes as his government faces the prospect of one of its most serious backbench revolts since coming to power.
Efforts by David Lammy, the justice secretary, to change the mind of one of the leading Labour figures opposed to the plans, the backbencher Karl Turner, failed after the men met on Monday night.
Turner, who had previously coordinated a letter from 38 Labour MPs urging the prime minister to reverse the plans, said he had “absolutely not” been convinced.
The Conservatives are expected to force a vote to try to block the second reading in parliament on Tuesday. However, the true scale of the Labour rebellion may not yet be evident.
More than 65 Labour MPs are thought to be considering voting against the bill, but it is understood that many may abstain and instead vote against it at a later stage of the legislative process, such as report stage.
More than 45,000 British nationals have returned to the UK from the Middle East since the start of the crisis in the region, Number 10 said.
Giving an update on evacuation efforts, the prime minister’s spokesman told reporters that on Monday a total of 32 flights carrying 7,400 British nationals returned to the UK from the Middle East.
He added:
double quotation mark Today, Tuesday, 36 flights, are scheduled to land in the UK today, with eight flights I think landing so far.As of this morning, 173,000 British citizens have registered their presence with the FCDO.
Neha Gohil
The Guardian’s midlands correspondent, Neha Gohil, was at the Reform press conference in Derbyshire earlier where Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick announced a pledge to reverse Labour’s planned fuel duty increase:
At the forecourt in Newhaven, which has been rebranded under the name ‘Reform, Refuel’ and ‘25p off with Farage’, the party has paid for a cut to petrol prices by 25p a litre for motorists for one day.
Farage and Jenrick criticised “net zero madness” and said the party would fund its plans by getting “rid of lunatic green levies”, naming the boiler upgrade scheme.
Jenrick was challenged on his previous support for net zero policies under previous Conservative governments. He said he was the second Conservative MP to call net zero a “fantasy”.
“It was never going to be achieved, that it was impoverishing our country … It was a huge mistake, and all of us who were involved in that should appreciate it.”
Lisa O’Carroll
Migration minister Mike Tapp has said a “crumbling” infrastructure in the UK was behind the government’s plans to increase the standard qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain in the UK from five to 10 years.
Defending the proposal, he told the House of Lords home affairs committee that many of those applying to stay in the country would be looking for social support, something the country could not afford.
“Many of those people are due to settle soon, and that [ILR after five years] would put untold stresses on our, welfare system and, social housing, for example. So by making it retrospective, we take that pressure off of the already buckling system,” he said.
He denied it was motivated by the costs to the exchequer. “It’s not a money saving exercise. It’s looking after the infrastructure of the nation that’s already, crumbling. We’ve inherited a really difficult, situation when it comes to, to housing and welfare,” Tapp told the committee.
He also said they had 200,000 responses to the public consultation which could take “months” to go through.
Lisa O’Carroll
Mike Tapp was also pressed about the case of Shamima Begum, the stateless former British citizen who left an east London school at the age of 15 to join ISIS, by Lord Dubs during the House of Lords committee appearance.
Dubs put it to the migration minister that it could be argued that as a child she was trafficked into ISIS and that “surely there must be some way in which we as parliamentarians can engage with that issue of the deprivation of that person’s citizenship.”
Tapp responded:
double quotation mark I maintain my, statement that if you join a terror organisation to harm this country, you shouldn’t be here. Of course there are rights of appeal.
Lisa O’Carroll
Migration minister Mike Tapp has admitted he does not know the height of the London Eye, failing a question in the Home Office’s Life in the UK test that citizenship applicants must pass before being naturalised.
But Tapp insisted he wouldn’t fail the test just because he couldn’t answer what he agreed may not be a relevant question for citizenship applications. He was being quizzed at the House of Lords home affairs committee.
“I don’t know the height of the London Eye,” he told them after being repeatedly asked to answer the question from the test.
“So you would fail the test,” he was asked by Lord Bath, the chair of the committee, who wanted to know what was the relevance of knowing this fact in a citizenship test which is designed to help integration.
“I’m confident that I would be able to pass the test. Absolutely. I’m a proud Brit. I’ve served the country,” Tapp said.
Ben Quinn
A UK government minister has said she expects police to take “robust action” against those expressing support for the Iranian regime ahead of a pro-Palestinian rally in London this weekend.
Sarah Sackman was speaking in advance of the annual Al Quds Day march in London on Sunday, which is organised by the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC).
The body says that the event has taken place peacefully for the past 40 years and will attempt to highlight the ongoing plight of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
However, previous events have included participants waving the flag of the Iran-backed Lebanese group, Hezbollah, which is banned in the UK as a terrorist organisation. Rhetoric including chants calling for death to America and Israel have also been highlighted in the past.
The courts minister, Sarah Sackman, told LBC radio on Tuesday:
double quotation mark Those expressing support for the malign regime in Iran and the IRGC and its proxies have no place in our society.They shouldn’t be on the streets of London calling for hate and hostility against this country. That’s thoroughly anti-British and I expect the police and the home secretary to take the necessary action against those people.
On Times Radio, she said: “I’m clear that hate marches like the Al Quds march has no place in British society and the authorities and the police should take the enforcement action needed against these marches.”
The Metropolitan police has said it has not ruled out a range of options ahead of the march, including seeking the imposition of an outright ban on the rally this weekend.
Reeves says Treasury policies are always ‘under review’ when asked about planned fuel duty hike
Reeves was asked if she would come back to the Commons at the end of this parliamentary session to say she will review the decision to increase fuel duty this autumn if petrol prices are significantly higher than they are today (due to a prolonged conflict in the Middle East). Reeves responded:
double quotation mark The price today of petrol is 8 pence per litre lower than if I had a followed the plans that were left to me by the previous Conservative government. And from April they will be 11 pence per litre lower.Of course, we keep these things, under review. But if you look at petrol prices, oil prices today, they are 24% lower than they were yesterday.
So things are very volatile at the moment, which is why, as I said yesterday, the most important thing we can do to address the cost of living challenges people face is to de-escalate the conflict in the Middle East.
You can watch the chancellor responding to questions here:
Reeves recognises ‘motoring costs have evolved significantly’ and says she is taking action
The chancellor was asked what steps her department is taking to ensure that HMRC approved mileage rates are up to date. Reeves responded:
double quotation mark While the approved mileage allowance payment rates have not changed since 2011, I recognise that motoring costs have evolved significantly, and it’s an important issue for many people who claim motoring expenses.We are therefore looking at the issue and will consider the matter further in the usual way as part of a future fiscal event.
Through steps like freezing fuel duty, we’re taking wider action in the meantime to ensure people pay the lowest price possible at the pump, whether or not they use the approved mileage allowance payments.
The current 45p a mile rate was put in place in 2011. Former Labour minister Jim McMahon said current costs of running a car worked out at about 67p a mile.
Rachel Reeves is now answering Treasury questions in the House of Commons. We will bring you the key lines.
Before taking questions from journalists, Nigel Farage pledged to reverse the government’s planned fuel duty hike by scrapping what he described as “lunatic” net zero levies.
Speaking at Newhaven services on Tuesday, he said: “The way we sneakily do tax in this country means there’s about 6p going on a litre of petrol staged over the course of the next few months. And this is just about the last time this should happen.
“How are we going to pay for not increasing taxes? Well, we’re going to get rid of lunatic green levies. In particular, I’m thinking about heat pump subsidies.”
Farage has sought to make hostility to net zero a centrepiece of Reform’s electoral pitch. Last year he claimed the government could save over £40bn a year from abandoning net zero commitments. But the experts he relied on for that calculation subsequently warned that the figure was mainly made up of private-sector investment, which does not contribute towards public spending.
Robert Palmer, deputy director of campaign group Uplift, accused Farage of being a “cheerleader for an oil and gas industry that is making obscene profits at our expense”.
He said:
double quotation mark It’s clear that the only route to lower bills and secure energy is to free ourselves from oil and gas through homegrown renewable energy and upgrading homes, whether that’s with solar panels or heat pumps. This is just common sense in today’s world.New North Sea drilling will make no difference to UK energy bills and have no meaningful impact on the UK’s supply of gas.
The Ministry of Defence said earlier that landing ship RFA Lyme Bay is being prepared for potential deployment to the eastern Mediterranean. The vessel has aviation and medical facilities.
Meanwhile, Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon is due to be sent to the eastern Mediterranean to help protect Cyprus and the RAF bases there from further drone or missile attacks.
As my colleague Dan Sabbagh notes in this story, France has already deployed its Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier into the eastern Mediterranean and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, met Cyprus’s president, Nikos Christodoulides, and Greece’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, on Monday.
Britain has faced criticism from Cyprus about not acting fast enough to protect the country, home to two UK bases.
Farage: UK can’t get directly involved in ‘another foreign war’; doesn’t ‘have a navy’
When pressed to clarify Reform’s position, Farage said:
double quotation mark We cannot get involved directly in another foreign war. We don’t have a navy. We can’t even defend our own military base in Cyprus.
