🚨PM’s plan to strip back right to trial by jury will place us on a path toward authoritarian justice

Trial by jury is a cornerstone of our democracy, and an essential safeguard against authoritarianism. Don't just take my word for it. The jury system is fundamental to our constitutional arrangement. Juries being proposed by judges and magistrates is effectively the establishment, rather than your peers who live in your community deciding what justice should be. Justice Secretary David Lammy, then Shadow Justice Secretary, making a powerful argument in 2020 for the need to retain jury trials. That same year, Mr Lammy posted this. Jury trials are a fundamental part of our democratic settlement. Criminal trials without juries are a bad idea. And this. Robert Buckland is wrong to consider proposals to limit jury trials for certain offences. The right to trial by your fellow citizens is fundamental to our democracy. In December 2025, now in government and Secretary of State for Justice, Mr Lammy announced this. I will create new swift courts within the Crown Court, with a judge alone deciding verdicts in tribal either-way cases with a likely sentence of three years or less. That's right, having always maintained this position in opposition. The jury system is fundamental to our constitutional arrangement. The Justice Secretary announced a controversial plan that jury trials in England and Wales are to be scrapped for crimes with sentences of less than three years. The whole point of justice in this country is that you be tried by, you know, or judged by 12 of your fellow citizens, right? If it's a judge, then, you know, that changes everything. You know, judges aren't reflective of the population for a start. 90% of them are white, 65% of them are men. By definition, they've had a university education. That would be justice decided by a certain sector of society. It's unthinkable, isn't it? The right to trial by jury is an important factor in the delicate balance between the power of the state and the freedom of the individual. The further it's restricted, the greater the imbalance. Those are not my words. They are the words of Keir Starmer, now Prime Minister. Starmer has said his government will push ahead with the controversial plan to significantly reduce jury trials in England and Wales. Even though independent analysis shows these changes would make no meaningful difference to the court backlog. And there is no credible evidence it will make justice swifter. What it will do, however, is place us on a path towards authoritarian justice. Why have you changed your mind so much that juries are fundamental, democratic? Doing without juries was a bad idea and now you're saying we'll do without them in some cases. MPs will soon be asked to vote on the curtailment of jury trials. The Prime Minister, himself a former human rights lawyer, will actually order them to undermine and restrict this fundamental cornerstone of our democracy. A right which has been a fundamental feature of the British justice system for over 800 years. A democratic guardrail against state power. And just think about this. Offences carrying three-year sentences are not minor. They're life-changing. If it were you, would you want judgment handed down by the state alone or shared with ordinary citizens? People just like you who at least have some understanding of the circumstances of your life. Contact your MP now before it's too late. Tag them to this film and ask them to oppose the Prime Minister's appalling plan to undermine and restrict this fundamental cornerstone of our democracy.