Is the jury system overrated?
The News Agents
Global
4.1 • 5.4K Ratings
🗓️ 2 December 2025
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In the sane world of the commons, the Shadow Justice Secretary was only two minutes into his speech before he called the justice secretary a “Lammy Dodger“ and accused him of going back on his previous position on jury trial. Today’s question is this does ending most jury trials speed up a sclerotic system? Or is it the wrong solution for the right diagnosis?
Later, is public sympathy with the striking junior doctors? And do they really expect to win more pay?
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Newsagents podcast is brought to you by HSBC UK, opening up a world of opportunity. |
| 0:08.1 | This is a global player original podcast. |
| 0:11.7 | Runnymede, the 15th of June 1215. King John seals the Magna Carta. In it, no free man will be |
| 0:19.2 | imprisoned except by the lawful judgment of his peers. |
| 0:23.6 | The 2nd of December, 2025, David Lamy tears it up. |
| 0:29.6 | We've had jury trials for over 800 years. |
| 0:32.6 | They are, as David Lamy himself once proudly asserted, fundamental to our justice system, fundamental to our |
| 0:40.0 | democracy, they're a bulwook against tyranny, 12 ordinary citizens pooling their collective |
| 0:46.4 | wisdom. |
| 0:46.8 | That is Robert Jenrick, Shadow Justice Secretary, taking us back to 1215 to start his assessment of David Lammy's plan to scrap juries for many cases in England and Wales. |
| 1:02.1 | That is the year of the Magna Carta and Generic's argument is that Lammy is tearing up history. |
| 1:09.5 | But is that right? I mean 90% of cases are heard in this country |
| 1:14.7 | by magistrates. So what is Mr. Generic getting so exercised about? Welcome to the newsagents. |
| 1:27.1 | The news agents. It's John. It's Emily. It's Lewis. And that was a video from Robert Jenric where he's seen walking across a muddy field in white trainers with his dog. I mean, that's just the wrong look. I'm sorry. Runny Meade, maybe. Was he in Runny Mead? Do you think? It may have been Ronnieny Mead. I think so. I don't think it was just any old field. |
| 2:00.5 | But surely it should have been Wellies if you're going across a field. I also love the idea that we reached a fundamentally sound and just legal system in 1215. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. There was definitely no wrongful imprisonment after that for the next day. No, no rack, no torture. |
| 2:01.0 | No indeed. But this is all related to the announcement that David L next day. No, no rack, no torture. No indeed. |
| 2:05.1 | But this is all related to the announcement that David Lamy, the Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary, has made today, which is controversial because however comically generic has |
| 2:10.4 | expressed it, it is true to say that the jury system has been at the heart of the English, Scottish |
| 2:17.2 | legal system for centuries, unlike many |
| 2:20.4 | other European countries, but he's announced David Lammy that jury trials in England and Wales |
| 2:24.3 | for crimes that carry a likely sentence of less than three years will be scrapped. These are reforms |
| 2:30.5 | to the justice system, including creating so-called swift courts, |
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