16 March 2026
A leading lawyer who represented a number of wrongly convicted sub-postmasters has resigned from her position over David Lammy’s “tyrannical” jury reforms.
Flora Page KC has stepped down from her role on the Legal Services Board in protest at Lammy’s plans to curb the ancient right to trial by jury. The Legal Services Board oversees and regulates lawyers in England and Wales. It is independent of the government but works closely with ministers and officials at the Ministry of Justice.
In announcing her resignation, Page launched a blistering attack on the Government. She said the plans would “rip the heart out” of the rule of law and that she will now focus her efforts on campaigning against the reforms.
Page also criticised the Prime Minister for sanctioning what she described as an “act of tyranny”, calling it “a sign that this government has completely lost its way”.
In her letter to the Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor, David Lammy, she delivered a scathing assessment of the reforms and criticised both him and the Courts Minister, Sarah Sackman, for “hijacking the suffering of victims” who have argued the changes are necessary to deliver justice more quickly.
Page wrote that the Crown Court backlog — which currently stands at around 80,000 cases — was being used as “a cynical cover-up” to justify the reforms. She claimed the proposals were “something that officials have worked on intentionally to give you and Ms Sackman the ammunition you feel you need to take aim at jury trial”.
She argued that the reforms reflect a deeper “command-and-control” mentality within the civil service, adding: “There is clearly a seam of tyranny in the civil service as well.”
In her letter to Lammy and Sackman, Page wrote: “You should be ashamed of yourselves. It was disgusting to see the way you hijacked the suffering of victims to make your arguments yesterday.”
Critics argue that Lammy’s plan will do little to address the crisis in the courts. The Institute for Government’s report has estimated that the proposals would save only around 2 per cent of Crown Court time — far short of the 20 per cent ministers have suggested.
Page is one of a growing number of senior lawyers to condemn the reforms. Critics include Sir Keir Starmer’s former chambers and the four criminal Bar associations, which warned in a rare joint statement that the changes could undermine public trust in the criminal justice system. How many more leading figures in the law must speak out before the Government reconsiders?
Like other critics, Page argues that the “real reason” for the Crown Court backlog is the long-standing cap on sitting days. Between 10 and 20 per cent of Crown courtrooms reportedly sit empty on working days, delaying and denying justice to victims.
Page’s intervention came just days after Jo Hamilton — one of the wrongly convicted sub-postmasters in the Horizon scandal — urged Lammy to rethink the proposals, warning that they could lead to “many more miscarriages of justice”.
Read more in The Times.
