A Labour MP has threatened to stand down and force a by-election in a direct challenge to the Prime Minister.
Karl Turner has threatened to resign his seat over Sir Keir Starmer’s plans to axe jury trials for certain offences – saying he was “ashamed” of both the PM and his deputy, David Lammy.
He holds his Kingston upon Hull East seat with a majority of just 3,920.
Reform UK, who would be the likely challengers if a by-election was held, came second there at the last General Election.
According to Electoral Calculus, Nigel Farage’s party would have a 93 per cent chance of winning a by-election in Kingston upon Hull East.
The last time an MP triggered a by-election on a point of principle was David Davis, the-then Tory MP for Haltemprice & Howden.
Mr Turner has said he is “not fearful of having the whip removed” – and revealed he has warned party whips he would consider forcing a by-election to make his “principled point”.
Mr Turner broke the whip last week for the first time since entering Parliament in 2010.
He was the sole Labour MP to vote against the Government on jury trials and support a Conservative motion.
Karl Turner has threatened to resign his seat over Sir Keir Starmer’s plans to axe jury trials for certain offences
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GETTY
He has now called on Mr Lammy and Sir Keir to “stop these ludicrous proposals and get on with the hard job of sorting out the criminal justice system”.
He revealed his opposition stems from personal experience with the justice system – having been falsely accused of a crime.
In 2002, while working as an antiques dealer in Hull, he was charged with handling stolen goods.
“Many years ago I dealt in antiques,” Mr Turner told The Sunday Times. “I bought items that turned out to be stolen unbeknown to me. It can happen. It did with me. I was arrested, interviewed by the police, charged and remanded in custody for court.
“On the advice of my legal team I was advised, on the strength of the evidence, to elect for a jury trial.”
The case collapsed before reaching a jury.
FURY AT LABOUR’S JURY TRIAL PLANS – READ MORE:
In 2002, while working as an antiques dealer in Hull, Karl Turner was charged with handling stolen goods
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PA
He said that as a “working-class kid from a council estate”, a jury would have treated him more fairly than a judge alone.
But Labour plans to remove juries from trials for offences carrying likely sentences of three years or fewer.
Appeals from magistrates’ court decisions to crown courts will also face new restrictions.
Courts Minister Sarah Sackman admitted last week the reforms were not solely about tackling backlogs – contrary to the party’s stated ine.
She told MPs: “People ask me – ‘Sarah, would you be doing this if there wasn’t a crisis in our courts?’ I say yes, because we need a better system where courts, not criminals, triage cases. One that makes better use of jurors’ time.”
Mr Turner has now asked: “Why are we doing this? The only possible reason is that Lammy has offered up savings to the Treasury.”
‘The only possible reason’ for scrapping some jury trials ‘is that Lammy has offered up savings to the Treasury’, Karl Turner said
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GETTYMr Lammy is currently in Toronto studying Canada’s expanded use of judge-only trials.
The Justice Secretary says removing juries could cut trial times by 20 per cent.
But Mr Turner remains confident the reforms will ultimately fail.
Some 40 Labour MPs have signed a letter urging the PM to abandon the plans, describing them as “an ineffective way of dealing with the crippling backlog in cases in our criminal justice system”.
The Kingston upon Hull East MP added that his parliamentary colleagues are “seething” about the proposals – and believes they will defeat the Government if it is “daft enough” to bring the legislation forward.
He has also questioned the Treasury’s justification for the changes, arguing any savings would be offset by costs of recruiting and training additional judges.