Labour MP who slammed government jury trial reforms has whip suspended
Labor has had his sentence suspended after he was an outspoken critic of the government and its plan to limit jury trials to the most serious offences.
Lawyer Karl Turner has caused trouble for Sir Keir Starmer over plans to have defendants tried by magistrates or a judge-only court if they are likely to be jailed for less than three years.
The former shadow attorney general has previously described the policy as “undemocratic” and accused Justice Secretary David Lammy of being “untruthful” when he said the plan was about reducing court backlogs.
He abstained from jury trial reforms during a second debate in the House of Commons earlier this month, saying at the time: “This is not the day to defeat the government, but we will win the debate as the bill progresses.”
As well as leading Labor resistance on the jury trial issue, Mr Turner also questioned the circumstances surrounding the theft of Morgan McSweeney’s mobile phone; an event that means the Prime Minister’s former private secretary will be unable to deliver messages regarding the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.
Referring to Mr McSweeney, the MP for Kingston upon Hull East posted on social media last week: “I don’t believe you stole McSwindle’s iPhone.”
Mr Turner is understood to have been informed by chief whip Jonathan Reynolds that the flogging had been suspended “following his recent behaviour”.
But Mr Turner, who posted on social media after being notified of his suspension, claimed he had not been officially notified of his expulsion from the Labor parliamentary party.
“I was told that the flogging sentence was postponed, but I did not receive any notification from the whips about this. It seems that journalists were told, but I was not told,” he said.
It is understood the decision to suspend Mr Turner came after the MP was given multiple warnings with a whip for his behaviour.
Earlier this month, the MP threatened to resign and call a by-election if Labor sacked him.
He told Times Radio: “I will not be threatened with suspension. I have already been issued a behavior warning for having the audacity to say these proposals are ridiculous. “I will not be bullied around.
“If my parliamentary Labor leader, prime minister, party leader or anyone else doesn’t want me in the party anymore, that’s fine. I have no objection to marching and causing a by-election.”
