A new year and new headaches for the Labour whips’ office. Karl Turner, the long-serving MP for Hull East, has not taken too well to David Lammy’s plans to curb jury trials. He has been going out and about on the media airwaves, threatening all kinds of terrible trouble if the government don’t drop their plans. Turner has demanded the Justice Secretary resign, castigated the Chief Whip as incompetent and suggested the PM ought to be ‘ashamed’. Why don’t you tell us what you really think…
But today Turner has unveiled his greatest threat yet. He has told the Sunday Times that he is willing to resign and trigger a by-election, unless the reforms are scrapped. He has warned the whips he is considered resigning to make his ‘principled point’ on civil liberties– much like David Davis did 18 years ago. That threat ought to send shivers down the spine of Labour spin doctors: Turner’s majority is less than 4,000, with Electoral Calculus giving Reform a 93 per cent chance of winning this seat. With Keir Starmer’s approval ratings at record lows, you would not fancy his party’s chances…
Labour might be keen on cancelling elections – but they can’t do much if it’s their own side causing them eh?
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