Labour rebel threatens to trigger by-election unless Starmer drops jury reforms

Sir Keir Starmer has been warned that a rebel Labour MP could trigger a by-election unless the UK Government scraps plans to restrict jury trials.

Karl Tuner, a former shadow attorney general and criminal barrister, said he was prepared to quit the Commons to force a by-election to make his “principled point”.

The Hull East MP broke the party whip for the first time since becoming an MP in 2010 to vote against the proposals and told Sir Keir he “ought to be ashamed of himself” over the plans.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, he said he was “not fearful of having the whip removed” and has warned the whips he would consider triggering a by-election in a seat which could fall to Reform UK.

Mr Turner said his own experience of being accused of a crime meant he was determined to save the right to a jury trial.

“Many years ago I dealt in antiques,” he said.

“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.

“By the time the case came before the court it was fairly obvious that there wasn’t enough evidence for the matter to go before the jury so it was thrown out.

“The prosecution offered no evidence.

“But the late judge His Hon Judge Tom Cracknell, who much later became a good friend of mine, discharged me from the court with a warning to ‘be more careful in the future’.”

He said: “When I say this matters to me, it really matters to me.”

Mr Turner won his seat with a majority of 3,920 over Reform in 2024.

He said he had sent a text message to Sir Keir, a former director of public prosecutions, saying “he ought to be ashamed of himself”.

Mr Turner told Times Radio he was “completely ashamed” of Justice Secretary David Lammy.

“Lammy is the Justice Secretary who’s fallen for the civil servants’ trick,” Mr Turner said.

“Every single justice secretary for the last two decades has been asked by officials to do away with some jury trials, but David Lammy is the fool who fell for the trick.”

The UK Government has said it will drop jury trials for offences with a likely prison sentence of three years or less.

The ability to appeal a magistrates’ court verdict to a crown court will also be limited.

Ministers have put forward the plans to speed up the justice process.

Mr Turner said he hoped he would be supported by enough Labour rebels to vote the proposals down.

“If they’re (the Government) daft enough to put this legislation forward… I’m confident we’ll defeat it,” he said.

“I think there are enough others.”