DITCH plans to axe jury trials, Labour MPs told David Lammy today as the Justice Secretary presented his plans to attack ancient liberties.

And the dangers of judge-only trials were highlighted as 17 Labour MPs wrote to him over the unexplained decision to switch the judge hearing the Palestine Action case, the Star can report.

Mr Lammy announced that cases where a sentence is likely to be three years’ imprisonment or less will be heard by a judge.

And he ended the right defendants have in certain cases to opt for the sort of trial they would prefer. Magistrates will be given powers to impose longer sentences of up to 218 months, possibly rising to two years.

These changes, Mr Lammy told MPs, would be “permanent.”

Left MP Diane Abbott told him there will be “many women who will undoubtedly suffer miscarriages of justice if the right to trial by jury is curtailed” and asked how he could “propose a limitation of the right to trial by jury when he knows perfectly well the category of defendant who will suffer the ill-effects of that?”

The long-serving MP also reminded the House that PM Sir Keir Starmer had once written that “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 to restrict it. The further it is restricted, the greater the imbalance.”

Labour MP Richard Burgon said: “The prospects of citizens in our country being put away in jail for up to three years without the benefits of a trial by jury sends a chill through my heart.”

Tory David Davis said the courts’ crisis did not arise from juries but from governments of all parties “from Blair to now” starving the system of resources and that Mr Lammy should focus on putting that right.

“Instead, what he’s doing is undermining a bulwark of our constitution,” he said.

Fiona Rutherford, of legal reform charity Justice, said: “Cutting jury trials will not help delays; instead, it will create a host of new problems.

“Juries are one of the most trusted parts of the justice system. They reflect society better than judges or magistrates and consistently result in more equal outcomes.”

Labour’s Sarah Russell was worried about the rights of protesters charged under ever-more restrictive laws, insisting they should still be tried by juries, a proposal Mr Lammy showed no interest in.

And leading left MP John McDonnell said that scrapping juries made “transparency in the appointment of judges” all the more important.

He demanded that Mr Lammy meet him to discuss a letter he sent on behalf of 17 Labour MPs and peer John Hendy KC expressing concern at the sudden removal of the judge hearing the judicial review into the proscription of Palestine Action.

“Members of Parliament, of whom a significant number are already sharing the most profound concerns at the way in which responsible challenges are addressed in relation to issues concerning Palestine and Israel, have a responsibility to ensure that the review mechanisms by which these restrictions have taken place themselves conform to fundamental standards, including standards of external scrutiny,” they wrote.

“The process by which the judiciary are appointed, organise and carry out their functions is demanding of the greatest degree of public knowledge.

“There are now clearly and fully reported from all directions manifestations of the lack of public confidence in the rule of law as it is applied to the use of terrorism legislation.

“This now, regrettably, appears to be exemplified in the process of this legal challenge.

“We consequently must ask for an urgent meeting with yourself to ensure that the seriousness of this issue is appreciated and acted upon, and that an immediate inquiry is conducted with full and open reporting at its conclusion.”

The other signatories are Brian Leishman, Imran Hussein, Richard Burgon, Kim Johnson, Neil Duncan Jordan, Nadia Whittome, Clive Lewis, Diane Abbott, Ian Lavery, Bell Ribeiro Addy, Rachel Maskell, Apsana Begun, Andy McDonald, Ian Byrne, Jon Trickett and Grahame Morris.