Day: October 4, 2026

Burnham scraps judge-only trial plans

  • Controversial plans for some criminal trials to be heard by judge alone to be scrapped under changes to court reforms
  • Wider changes to criminal courts to cut the record number of cases waiting to be heard will be fast-tracked
  • ‘Victims will not be waiting endlessly for justice’ Justice Secretary pledges

CONTROVERSIAL plans for some criminal trials to be heard by judge alone in England will be scrapped, meaning more serious cases will continue to be heard in front of a jury, keeping juries the cornerstone of British justice.

This will mean the Justice Secretary can be ‘fully focussed’ on fast-tracking the broader changes needed to drive down the record number of cases waiting years to be heard – fixing a crisis that is leaving too many victims in limbo before they see their perpetrator in the dock.

Millions will be invested in new technology to modernise the outdated courts and slash inefficiencies, judges will be given the resources they need to hear more cases, and vital structural reforms will deliver a court system fit for the 21st Century.

This will give magistrates the power to hand out longer sentences, meaning the courts can deal with cases quicker and get victims justice faster. 

Technical and lengthy fraud and financial offences will be allowed to be heard by a judge alone, freeing up jurors from the personal and financial burdens created by complex, months-long trials.

And courts will have the final say over where cases should be heard, preventing criminals accused of relatively minor crimes trying to game the system by electing a jury trial in an attempt to avoid prison.

Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Alex Norris, said:  “This government inherited criminal courts on the brink of collapse, with victims waiting years for their day in court.

“I remain committed to bringing down the backlog and delivering swifter justice for those who so desperately need it. But I have heard the strength of feeling on the proposals for increasing the number of judge-alone trials in the Crown Court and have made the decision to change course.

“This allows us to start that work far earlier, ensuring that under this Government we do not have victims waiting endlessly for justice.

“Justice delayed is justice denied, and I am committed to maximising efficiencies in our system alongside record investment. I remain committed to structural reform which is crucial if we are to bring down the backlog.”

The changes announced today will be made to the Courts and Tribunals Bill, due back in Parliament later this month.

When it returns, the government will also make a statutory commitment to consider any impacts of the structural reforms on ethnic minorities and people of different backgrounds, led by an independent reviewer. 

Minister for Courts and Legal Services, Sarah Sackman KC said: ”Justice delayed is justice denied. We must take action to bring down the backlog using every lever we have. That’s why we will set out, in our response to Lord Leveson’s report, the steps we are taking to make the courts more efficient.   

“Whether that is using AI to support the listing of cases, rolling out further virtual hearings, or taking steps to ensure defendants arrive to court on time, we will turn the tide and deliver the swifter justice victims deserve.”

Today’s announcement comes just weeks after new figures confirmed the backlog in the Crown Court had reached a record high. Nearly 81,000 cases are now stuck waiting for justice and of these almost a third had been waiting for a year or longer.  

The UK Government said: ‘No single measure can fix years of underinvestment and decades where the system has not kept up with the pace of change.’

‘That is why the government is doing all it can to get victims fairer, faster justice – long-term reform, underpinned by vital efficiency and record investment.  

  • The Government will publish its full response to both parts of Lord Leveson’s review in the coming weeks.  
  • The Bill will return to the House of Commons on 13 October.

90th Anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street – to honour the past and shape the future

A COMMITMENT TO ACTION

Sunday 4 October 2026 is the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street when ordinary men, women, and some feisty children, literally stood shoulder to shoulder in the East End of London determined that organised fascists would not march through their community (writes TUC’s Laurie Heselden).

This remains a massive moment in our history but the celebrations that are being organised 4 October 2026 are not a heritage event – they are a commitment to action.

In the mid-1930s the economy was recovering from a deep recession. During the crash the UK’s trade flows had halved, the output of heavy industry had fallen by a third, and the unemployment rate reached 25 percent in 1933. People were hurting and angry.

Politics at the time was febrile and divided. Oswald Mosley had founded the “Blackshirts” in October 1932 as the paramilitary wing of the British Union of Fascists, modelled on Mussolini’s Blackshirts in Italy and Hitler’s Sturmabteilung in Germany. Mosley’s programme was explicitly founded on antisemitism. Mosley’s plan to march his Blackshirts through the East End in October 1936 both targeted the Jewish community and was designed to provoke violent division.

But his “Blackshirts” did not pass.

We also live in troubled times, with our economy ‘bumping along the bottom’ since 2008 after a global financial crash that was caused by greedy bankers, a cost-of-living crisis, millions of ‘working poor’, the consequences of illegal wars, and the politics of hate, division and rupture in our news, in our workplaces and in our communities too.

In the UK migrants are stereotyped and vilified, Muslims are stereotyped and vilified, antisemitic incidents are on the rise and many people with racist views feel emboldened to express those views openly. We have political parties using racism as a wedge issue and we have hundreds of masked men dressed in black blocking roads, intimidating the public, and targeting RNLI volunteers.

Across Europe far-right parties have gained considerable electoral support in the last 30 years, and policies that were recently regarded as extreme have become normalised. A far-right party is in government in Italy, and far-right parties participate in government in Austria, Finland and Slovakia.

The Front National, now National Rally, has been a feature of politics in France for decades, it is the largest opposition party in the National Assembly, has the largest number of MEP seats, has just won more seats in the French Senate, and is a force in the upcoming Presidential election. 

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) recently won its highest ever vote in a regional election in Germany’s eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, far ahead of mainstream rivals, winning 43.8 percent of the vote, just 3 seats short of an overall majority. A far-right party has not controlled a German state since World War Two. To date other political parties have maintained a firewall against working with the AfD, but from December it could be in government in Saxony-Anhalt, with powers over policing, local education and culture. This would be an immense moment in European politics.

This isn’t a re-run of the 1930s. The politics of today has its own dynamics, and today we have the modern-day problem of far-right tropes, lies and disinformation on social media. But there are parallels to the 1930s and there are lessons that we can learn from the Battle of Cable Street.

Resistance matters

The weather 4 October 1936 was fine. The easy thing to do that day was to get out of the way, ignore the Blackshirts, and go to Victoria Park for the day. But all that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing.

Bravely, tens of thousands answered the call, organised, built barricades, acted with courage and solidarity, defended their streets and saw off the Blackshirts and the police. Their victory still resonates today.

Networks, Organisation and Leadership matter

The defence of Cable Street didn’t just bubble up from the pavement, it was mobilised, organised and led. These skills are learned and honed. Organised labour does what it says on the tin. Trade unions are one of the few social structures with reach across workplaces, communities and the public realm.

The union movement has a responsibility to lead the challenge against the politics of hate. If you are not in a union, join one. If you are in a union, organise and change the world.

Solidarity in the community and beyond is essential

Cable Street was not a narrow victory for one group. Nor was it a victory for an alliance of segmented groups. It was a triumph for a diverse and politicised local community of trade unionists, communists, socialists, members of the Labour Party and ILP, and working-class families, many of them Jewish and Irish.

Jewish women garment makers were women, maybe mothers, active members of a union, possibly Communist Party members, and almost certainly activists challenging awful housing standards, opposing evictions and participating in rent strikes.

This lesson remains vital, antisemitism cannot be tackled in isolation, racism cannot be tackled in isolation, tackling xenophobia is a common cause, and winning good jobs for all is a collective task. The fights are linked and mutually dependent. History proves we achieve more together than we do apart.

Division is toxic and drags us all down. Join our Unity Works campaign for updates

Building stronger communities

Cable Street 90 is not a coalition built to organise an event and then dissolve. We know that through intense joint working we will forge a stronger broad based local community that is better able to advocate and organise for the community, and better able to respond robustly to hate politics online and on its streets. It is capacity building.

So, Cable Street 90 is not a heritage event, it is a call to action. Let’s make every street Cable Street

The TUC organised a briefing to discuss the significance and lessons of the Battle of Cable Street, European perspectives, with CGIL (Italy), CGT (France) and CCOO (Spain) and other key partners, on 2 October at Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS. More information

TUC LESE is part of the Cable Street 90 coalition that has organised rallies and a march in the East End of London, 4 October. Assemble outside Whitechapel Tube Station, E1 1BY, at midday for an opening rally, march moves off 13:00 and processes to St George’s Gardens. This is a celebration and family event. Please bring trade union banners and flags.