Burnham is poised to scrap Starmer's judge-only trial plans in major Labour U-turn on jury rights

From the Newshound archive · first published 20 September 2026.

Andy Burnham is set to abandon his predecessor's contentious proposal to establish a Crown Court division in which judges alone would determine guilt, representing a significant departure from Sir Keir Starmer's justice agenda. The retreat follows fierce opposition from Labour backbenchers to reforms originally championed by David Lammy to address an 80,000-case court backlog. Before taking office, Burnham had already made clear his reservations, saying his instincts were "not to reduce access to jury trial."

The partial U-turn still leaves one major jury restriction intact — ministers plan to strip defendants accused of 'either-way' offences of the right to choose a Crown Court trial.

Under the surviving reforms, magistrates rather than defendants would decide whether cases go to a crown court, covering offences including drug possession and dangerous driving.

England and Wales currently hold more than 15,000 prisoners on remand awaiting trial, with the Courts and Tribunals Bill due to return to the Commons in October.