Politics Home Article | Labour Suspends Outspoken MP Karl Turner

(Alamy)

2 min read5 hr

Turner has been particularly vocal in his opposition to jury trial reforms, but has also publicly criticised the Keir Starmer operation.

PoliticsHome understands that the suspension did not relate to a specific incident and was in response to a pattern of behaviour towards colleagues.

Some Labour MPs were unhappy with an interview that the Hull East MP gave to campaigner Jody McIntyre, who stood against Labour MP Jess Phillips at the last general election.

Turner claimed that he had not been made aware that he had had the whip suspended before it was reported by the media.

Writing on X on Tuesday afternoon after the suspension was confirmed to PoliticsHome, he said: “I am being told that I have had the whip suspended but I have not had any notification from the whips about this. It seems journalists have been told but I have not.”

Turner, who was first elected in 2010, wrote in The House in December that he was prepared to break the whip for the first time since being elected to oppose the government’s plans to scale back jury trials.

It came after PoliticsHome reported that Turner was organising a backbench letter to protest proposals.

While some MPs had said they were opposed to the plans to scale back jury trials for less serious offences, the bill passed its first hurdle in the House of Commons earlier this month.