Legislation to restrict jury trials for all but the most serious cases has passed its first major Commons hurdle – despite a rebellion by some Labour MPs.
The Courts and Tribunals Bill passed its first vote by 304 votes to 203, a majority of 101.
Ten Labour MPs voted against the plans, while 90 didn’t vote at all.
All those who voted against are from the party’s left wing and have previously had vocal disagreements with the government on other policies.
It had been thought the government might face a larger rebellion – although Justice Secretary David Lammy was bullish on Monday that the bill would pass.
Not all of those who didn’t vote will have actively abstained, as some will have been otherwise busy.
Sky News understands that party managers were not forcing attendance at the vote.
Chief political correspondent Jon Craig said that despite the few actual votes against the bill, this was still a major rebellion and an “ominous warning for the government”.
The Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Reform UK, Greens, and Your Party all voted against.
The bill will now proceed for further scrutiny by MPs.
It would remove the right to a jury trial for cases concerning crimes that carry sentences of up to three years.
Under the proposals, only the most serious cases, such as rape, murder and manslaughter, would be heard by a jury.
The plans have proved controversial, with over 3,200 lawyers writing to the prime minister on Tuesday urging him to “rethink”.
Speaking during the debate, Mr Lammy told MPs: “The choice before the House is stark. We cannot continue with this rising backlog.
“Victims are currently worn down, people simply give up, cases collapse and offenders remain free. Free to roam the streets, free to commit more crimes, free to create more victims.”
Labour MP Karl Turner, considered the lead rebel against the plans, abstained after he said the government had agreed to put an opponent on the committee of MPs who will scrutinise the bill line by line.
Speaking to Sky News after the vote, Mr Turner said his opposition to the proposals was “stronger than ever”.
“I’m now confident that we have the numbers for [an] amendment [to remove] the worst parts of this bill, the jury curtailment stuff, the magistrates extra powers,” he said.
But another Labour MP who supports the proposals, Natalie Fleet, told Sky News she was confident the legislation will pass.
“I am standing up for this legislation because it is so important to me and the kind of country I want women to live in… we will see it on the statute books.”
Abstentions spell trouble ahead on juries
Majorities of over 100 sound pretty healthy. But those numbers don’t tell the whole story.
There was an ominous warning for the government in the voting figures on its controversial jury trial reforms.
The numbers revealed that in the two votes, 93 Labour MPs failed to support the government in the first vote and 100 in the second.
There may not have been that many Labour MPs voting against the government. But this was a major rebellion, nevertheless.
Read more of Jon’s analysis
Seven Labour MPs voted with the Conservatives on an amendment which would have killed the bill entirely, while 86 abstained.
Former deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner voted with the government on both votes, despite allies claiming she was looking for reassurances from the government on the proposals.
Responding to the bill’s second reading vote, Conservative shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy said Sir Keir Starmer and Mr Lammy should “hang their heads in shame”. “They have struck the first blow against out ancient legal right to trial by jury,” he said.
Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Jess Brown-Fuller said Labour MPs had “simply sat by” and allowed the government to “push through its disastrous and unpopular plan to slash jury trials”.
