'I will not stand back from speaking truth': Labour MP Karl Turner says suspension by Starmer came 'without discussion'

Karl Turner, a barrister, has been a thorn in the Government’s side over the proposed plans to reserve jury trials for only the most serious of cases.

On Tuesday, following the removal of the whip, he said: "In 16 years as a Labour Member of Parliament, I have never broken the whip except on the issue of jury trials.

"That is why I am surprised and disappointed to have been suspended from the Labour whip without any prior verbal communication, and I have written to the Chief Whip, through my Solicitor, to seek a full explanation of the reasons behind this decision."

Mr Turner, the Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull East, has rebelled against the party's decision to abolish the presence of jury trials for all but the most serious cases in recent months.

It comes just 24 hours after the Labour MP told LBC that he was "'more Labour than anybody else I can think of in the Labour Party".

His suspension is said to come as a result of his 'recent conduct' - as the MP insisted he has not been formally notified of his removal from the Labour parliamentary party.

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"There's no way I wouldn't go to reform for all the tea in China. I'm a Labour Party man. I was born in a Labour family. My parents were trade Unionists," he insisted.

"If I'm unfortunate enough to get up during the night to go for a wee, I remind myself how much I hate the Tories. If Farage comes into the equation, I hate the Reform more than I've ever hated the Tories," he continued.

"I'm Labour Party born and bred. I'll die Labour Party. But what I will do is, is speak the truth to the power," he added, telling the government it has "got to stop messing around" with policies that were "never mentioned in the manifesto".

The MP was the only Labour MP to vote against the Government's proposed changes to UK jury trials earlier this year.

"Jury trials are a cornerstone of our democracy and a vital safeguard in our justice system. Weakening them will not solve the Crown Court backlog; it will undermine public confidence while doing nothing to address the real causes; years of underinvestment, crumbling courts, outdated technology, and insufficient resources," he added on X.

"It is fundamentally dishonest to suggest juries are the problem."

Earlier on Tuesday, he responded to suggestions the whip had been removed in another post, writing: “I am being told that I have had the whip suspended but I have not had any notification from the whips about this.

"It seems journalists have been told but I have not," he added in the social media post..

The decision will be reviewed at a later date, it's been confirmed.

Speaking with LBC, he said: "Jury trials is my example. Why are we curtailing jury trials? The public don't want it. It's unworkable, it's unnecessary, it's unpopular.

"Stop doing the daft things, get on with the policy that we're committed to in the manifesto and govern for the country," he continued.

"Stop messing around is my message to the pm and I make that message to him every time I get the chance."

As well as leading Labour resistance on the jury trial issue, Mr Turner questioned the circumstances around the theft of the Prime Minister’s former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney’s mobile phone and with it potentially messages to Lord Peter Mandelson.

He called the former aide to Sir Keir Starmer “McSwindle”.