Yesterday, the Free Speech Union’s General Secretary, Lord Young of Acton, and the FSU team headed to Downing Street to deliver our Save Jury Trials petition to the Prime Minister. It looks like Larry the Cat agreed with us.
Jury trials are a cornerstone of our criminal justice system and a bulwark against a repressive state and a militant cancel-culture mob.
Instead of investing in the courts and ensuring they sit to tackle the Crown Court backlog, the Government decided it was easier to curb our right to a jury trial — a right that dates back to Magna Carta.
FSU research has shown that people charged with speech-related offences are almost twice as likely to be found not guilty in a Crown Court with a jury than in a magistrates’ court without one. Put simply, more people will be banged up for exercising their right to free speech if David Lammy’s reforms get through.
We know how vital jury trials are. Just look at the case of Royal Marine veteran Jamie Michael. Jamie was arrested at work over a Facebook video criticising mass migration in the wake of the Southport murders. He had been reported by a Labour Party staffer. In the end, a jury of his peers found him not guilty in just 17 minutes.
Thank you to the nearly 50,000 people who signed our petition.
The fight goes on!