Labour in ‘deep trouble’ with Black voters, Operation Black Vote chair warns

‘Only 1% of judges in England and Wales, are Black. So if juries are replaced with judge-only trials, then what happens is overwhelmingly white,’ said David Weaver Photograph: Operation Black Vote

Labour is in “deep trouble” with Black voters, a former government adviser has warned, saying the party is at risk of being seen as “accepting the normalisation of racism”.

David Weaver, who is the chair of Operation Black Vote (OBV), said the government’s plans to restrict juries would “heighten, normalise and embed” racial disproportionality in the justice system and that Black voters were saying: “We don’t know what Labour stands for any more.”