Top Tory Robert Jenrick tore into David Lammy after the Justice Secretary appeared to be missing in action during a high-temperature debate on scrapping jury trials. The Shadow Justice Secretary secured an urgent question in the Commons on Thursday to ask about the leaked government plan, but Mr Lammy sent a junior minister in his place.

Mr Jenrick blasted the Deputy Prime Minister’s absence, demanding to know: “Where is the Justice Secretary to answer for this? Do we need to send a search party to Saville Row in case he’s taken the morning off again? Or perhaps he couldn’t face up to the embarrassment that he is now destroying the principles he once championed.”

The showdown came two days after reports emerged that the Government is considering abolishing trial by jury for all but a small number of cases.

Only murder, rape, manslaughter and “public interest” cases will be heard by juries as part of radical proposals to slash the crown court backlog.

Senior legal sources told the Daily Express that Labour is “intent on removing the rights of ordinary people” and taking an “axe” to the values of “British justice and fairness”.

A staggering three in four cases could now be heard only by a judge, with magistrates set to be granted more sentencing powers.

Justice chiefs are said to be increasingly alarmed by the growing crown court backlog, which means some victims are waiting until 2029 to face their attackers.

Mr Jenrick highlighted Mr Lammy’s hypocrisy on the matter, after the Justice Secretary previously described jury trials as “fundamental to the justice system”.

He added: “They are fundamental to our democracy – we must protect them”.

Mr Jenrick said Mr Lammy had been right at the time, “but now he’s in government he’s doing the complete opposite”.

The Tory added: “The truth is the Labour Party just don’t think ordinary people are up to it.

“They don’t trust them with these decisions.

“Give away the Chagos Islands; shackle us to the ECHR, scrap jury trials – all because lawyers know best.

“And when the Justice Secretary is summoned here, to the people’s house, what does he do?

“He cowers. The people who make up juries, the British people, just won’t wear it any more.”

In response, junior justice minister Sarah Sackman accused Mr Jenrick of “denigrating our judges”.

Ms Sackman insisted that the right to a jury trial for the “most serious cases will remain a fundamental part of our British legal tradition”.

However, she said people must also have the right to a swift, prompt and fair trial, which they are not currently getting due to the court backlog.

Since Labour came to power, the backlog has soared by 10%, from 70,893 to 78,329.

And the backlog in rape cases has rocketed sevenfold from 573 in June 2019 to 4,086 in June 2025.

It has also increased by 30% in the past year, when Labour took office.

The number of sexual offence cases waiting to be heard has also soared by 20% in a year, rising from 11,062 to 13,328.