The ancient right to a jury trial, dating back nearly a thousand years, looks set to be abolished for a range of offences by this Labour government. Not because such a proposal will enhance justice – it clearly won’t – but because the system has been so badly managed that a dangerous shortcut is apparently needed.

One of the consequences of Covid and lockdown is that we have a massive backlog of cases, far bigger than ever. So great is this backlog, currently numbering around 75,000 (double the pre-Covid number), that the government seems serious about undermining that most fundamental right of defendants. A jury trial is the gold standard of justice. Sabotaging it would be a disgraceful expedient.

Of course, we understand the current huge challenge. The court system is a mess. We need to speed up trials to charge through the backlog, given that even shorter trials are being listed for years ahead. We know that justice delayed is justice denied, for victims and accused.

But this proposal is like a driver who’s in so much of a hurry that he refuses to stop for petrol. It will inevitably lead to less justice, not more, as defendants, innocent or guilty of a crime as serious as theft or assault, are forced to clamber on board the conveyor belt of the magistrates’ court system purely because we thrust ourselves into lockdown in 2020 and everything got so horrendously delayed.

Already, the length of custodial sentences handed out by a magistrates’ court (no jury) has risen to 12 months. Is this latest proposal another step on the slippery slope to abolishing the ancient right to a jury trial for even more cases? Once rights are removed, they are rarely restored.

If the only answer is more public funding, then so be it. This is too important a matter for the government to grasp at convenient short cuts. If that means denying public-sector workers above-average pay increases and spending less on overseas aid to free up money for maintaining our justice system, then that’s a price worth paying.

Such is the tragic state of our underfunded court system that this misguided proposal looks set to be given the green light. It’s a sad day for British justice.