Lord chancellor and justice secretary David Lammy faced MPs in the Commons today for what could be his last justice questions.
Given his vociferous defence of Keir Starmer's leadership in recent weeks, Lammy's chances of remaining in post under Andy Burnham are slim. However, he can count on at least one supporter: father of the house and Conservative MP Edward Leigh.
'The secretary of state knows how fond I am of him and I want him to keep his job. So will he please his new boss, the MP for Makerfield, virtually the entire legal establishment and the English people whose only wish is to keep their 1,000-year-old right to trial by jury of their peers when their liberty is at stake?'
'I'm very grateful to the father of the house. He might not have noticed but he made me blush,' Lammy replied.
However, he reminded Leigh that the government was not abolishing jury trials. It was making a decision made by previous PMs such as Margaret Thatcher to change the threshold.
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