Andy Burnham hints that he could scrap Lammy's sinister jury trial reforms

Max Thompson, Campaigns Officer

3 August 2026

The right to a trial by jury is an ancient and precious one. Its history spans back beyond Magna Carta. This did not seem to matter to Sir Keir Starmer and David Lammy, who spearheaded plans to curb our right to a jury trial.

Under plans brought forward by David Lammy in the Courts and Tribunals Bill, defendants facing a prison sentence of less than three years would no longer have the right to elect a jury trial. This would be the biggest shake-up of the English legal system in more than a generation, with judges, lawyers, MPs, and victims of crime all warning that it would undermine public trust in the criminal justice system.

Research carried out by the Free Speech Union has revealed that those charged with speech-related offences are almost twice as likely to be found not guilty in a Crown Court with a jury than in a magistrates' court without one.

It is clear that, should David Lammy's plan make it onto the statute book, more people will be banged up for simply exercising their right to free speech.

The House of Commons Justice Select Committee recently published a damning report into Lammy's reforms, which criticised the lack of pre-legislative scrutiny carried out before the Bill was introduced to Parliament and the lack of time given to Parliamentary scrutiny.

David Lammy, the former Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister, said that his reforms were the only way in which it would be possible to bring the backlog of 80,000 cases in the Crown Court down. However, as the Justice Select Committee highlighted, there was no concrete evidence to support this claim. In fact, the Institute for Government published a report at the start of the year stating that the reforms would save only two per cent of Crown Court time, not the 20 per cent promised.

As Andy Burnham formed his new Cabinet, one of the biggest sackings was that of David Lammy. This was an encouraging sign, building on comments by Mr Burnham during the Makerfield by-election, in which he called on Starmer's Government to "pause" its jury trial reforms and described them as a "linchpin of a fair society."

In his first week in office, a Downing Street spokesperson said that the new Prime Minister had no plans to continue with David Lammy's reforms, yet a day later Burnham reappointed Sarah Sackman as Courts Minister. Sackman has been one of the biggest cheerleaders for the jury trial reforms, even going further than her former boss's comments on the proposals by saying that they would apply retrospectively, meaning that approximately 30,000 defendants who had already entered not-guilty pleas would no longer have their case heard by a jury.

But all hope is not lost that common sense may prevail. On a visit to Sheffield, the Prime Minister told reporters: "I have my concerns about the plan to restrict jury trials, partly from my personal experience, particularly Hillsborough.

"So I want to really look in detail at that proposal and my instincts are that we need to find ways of not reducing access to jury trial.

"It's similar to the early release scheme. I want to get inside these issues before I confirm any of the plans that I inherited and, in fact, probably looking for changes."

Mr Burnham's comments have gone down well with key opponents of the reforms, including the Chair of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) and chief MP rebel Karl Turner, who has been leading efforts in the House of Commons to thwart Lammy's plans.

Riel Karmy-Jones KC, Chair of the CBA, said: "Jury trial is here to stay. We welcome this clear indication that this Government understands that the right to jury trial goes hand in hand with our PM's statement that 'the care of people' is at the heart of his new administration, and that a circuit break is necessary to reconnect with ordinary people across the country."

Karl Turner told The Telegraph: "Nobody in the criminal justice system thought that this plan could work, from the Lady Chief Justice down. Frankly, Ministers neglected their duty to take on board the serious objections to these plans.
"You must carry the legal profession with you if you are setting about to make fundamental constitutional change.
"Putting your fingers in your ears and closing your eyes was utterly reckless. I expect the Government to work with me going forward. I have lots of ideas that will reduce cases electing for a Crown Court trial, but these plans were simply unworkable."

The Free Speech Union welcomes the comments made by the Prime Minister and continues to urge him to scrap David Lammy's sinister proposals and guarantee our precious right to a trial by jury.

Read more in The Telegraph.