Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 07 Jan 2026 Jury Trials
"I am glad that the Minister has heard the opposition from right hon. and hon. Members from across the House. I have great news for her—she is going to hear it again.
An opinion that many of us across the House and the political divide share is that our criminal …..." Jess Brown-Fuller - View Speech
"My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We in the Liberal Democrats have sympathy for the scale of the task that this Labour Government have inherited, and we are glad that they recognise the real losers here—the victims. It is an utter failure of the justice system that victims and defendants …..." Jess Brown-Fuller - View Speech
"The right hon. Gentleman makes a valid and worthwhile point, and I thank him for raising it. It is highly irresponsible and dangerous for this Government to pursue efforts to remove the right to trial by jury in most Crown court cases as a means of fixing the backlog—although we …..." Jess Brown-Fuller - View Speech
The Government have rightly returned the number of days to 2016 levels, but with a rising backlog they need to go further and increase capacity. As pointed out by the Secret Barrister, we also have huge delays in the NHS, but we do not hear …..." Jess Brown-Fuller - View Speech
"My hon. Friend makes an excellent point, and I will come later in my contribution to the inefficiencies within the system...." Jess Brown-Fuller - View Speech
"I will make some progress, if the right hon. Gentleman does not mind.
The Government claim that this decision has stemmed from the review undertaken by Sir Brian Leveson, the first part of which was published last year. The objective behind the review commissioned by this Government was rightly to …..." Jess Brown-Fuller - View Speech
"I thank my hon. Friend, who is also a member of the Justice Committee, for her important point that Leveson did not make this proposal at all. He was talking about a separate division, which the Deputy Prime Minister has announced as a swift court. He has ignored the impact …..." Jess Brown-Fuller - View Speech
"The right hon. Gentleman pre-empts what I will go on to say in my speech. We are yet to see an impact assessment. That was spoken about by the shadow Justice Secretary, the right hon. Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick). It is also mentioned in the amendment tabled by the …..." Jess Brown-Fuller - View Speech
"I do not disagree with the hon. Lady when she points out that it has to be a full package of support, but that is not what we are debating today. I am laying out all the things that she rightly points out, such as the total inefficiencies within our …..." Jess Brown-Fuller - View Speech
"The news that offenders absconded from HMP Leyhill on new year’s day is yet another example of the glaring incompetence of the MOJ when it comes to maintaining control of the prison population. This situation has yet again placed the public at risk and lets down victims. It also raises …..." Jess Brown-Fuller - View Speech