Labour MP suspended after criticising David Lammy's plans to scrap jury trials

Ben McCaffrey
Tue, 31 Mar 2026 12:44:37 +0000

Karl Turner MP has had the Labour whip suspended, GB News understands.

Mr Turner, MP for Kingston Upon Hull East, was a prominent critic of the Government's jury trial reforms.

The MP took to social media, claiming he had not been informed of his removal by the Labour Party.

"I am being told that I have had the whip suspended but I have not had any notification from the whips about this," he wrote.

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"It seems journalists have been told but I have not."

It is understood Chief Whip Jonathan Reynolds suspended him "following his recent conduct". The decision is expected to be reviewed at a later date.

Mr Turner was among the most vocal of critics within the party, having previously said Justice Secretary David Lammy was "getting it so badly wrong," in regards to the proposed plans to scrap jury trials.

Such plans would see any offender facing a maximum sentence of less than three years in prison would no longer have a right to a jury trial.

The barrister announced in January that he would be willing to resign and trigger a by-election in an attempt to stop the reforms.

In 2024, his majority sat at less than 4,000 votes in his constituency. Reform UK are now projected a 42.7 per cent majority, according to ElectionMaps UK.

Mr Turner was one of 100 Labour MPs who failed to back the controversial Bill after he abstained his vote in the second reading earlier this month.

He was responsible for coordinating a letter, directed to the Government and signed by more than 40 Labour MPs, expressing deep concern within the Society of Labour Lawyers (SLL), one of the party’s oldest affiliates.

"The policy position of the SLL is that these measures are a terrible mistake, are unworkable and must be stopped but they have been blocked from sharing that position with Labour MPs in a briefing of the sort which one would expect it to be able to make," the letter read.

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He has gone on record, describing he feels "betrayed" by the "cynical" plans, which he said are "unjust, unworkable and unpopular".

The MP confirmed he received a face-to-face warning from Mr Reynolds at the time, describing it to The Telegraph.

"I effectively said we’re f****** fed up with what’s going on. We just can’t take any more of this nonsense.

"So don’t blame MPs for voting against the Government. Blame the Government for getting it wrong in the first place.

"We’re 18 months into a Government and we’ve had 11 U-turns that the Government are saying are not U-turns. We’re already on our 12th this week and juries will be the 13th, if there’s not one before."

Mr Turner has also been a vocal critic of the circumstances surrounding former Chief of Staff to the PM Morgan McSweeney, whose phone was stolen weeks after Peter Mandelson was sacked from his role as US ambassador.

He referred to the former aide as "McSwindle".

Mr Turner has been a barrister since 2005, and an MP since 2010. He served briefly as the shadow attorney general under Jeremy Corbyn in 2016.

While he remained a frontbencher when Sir Keir Starmer assumed power of the party in 2020, he was not given a Governmental role upon his election as PM in 2024.

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