David Lammy defended his plan to axe half of jury trials by warning the Crown Court backlog could hit 130,000 in just over three years.

Alarming projections from the Ministry of Justice revealed the number of trials waiting to be heard could surge from nearly 80,000 now to 130,000 in October 2029.

And the prison population could hit 100,000 by March 2029.

Labour is relying on the projections to justify radical reforms to the justice system, including the scrapping of jury trials and releasing thousands of criminals from prison early.

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Deputy Prime Minister an

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