MPs have voted in favour of the Courts and Tribunals Bill at second reading by 304 to 203, passing with a majority of 101 at its first major Commons hurdle.

The controversial Bill, put forward by Justice Secretary David Lammy, would replace juries in England and Wales, instead with a single judge in cases where a defendant could be jailed for up to three years.

On Tuesday, Mr Lammy told the Chamber: “This Bill is not just about juries, this is a whole package and that’s why just a few weeks ago I set out that investment was key, and this is £2.78billion worth of investment and as Sir Brian (Leveson) told us in part two of his reforms, modernisation and dealing with efficiencies in the system is also fundamental.

“Victims are currently worn down, people simply give up, cases collapse and offenders remain free. Free to roam the streets, free to commit more crimes, free to create more victims.

“To restore swift and fair justice we are pulling every lever available, investment is essential, modernisation is essential, and reform”.

Mr Lammy previously said the reforms could help transform the court system and turn around the backlog, which has now reached a record level of over 80,000 cases, meaning some defendants charged today may not face trial until 2030.

But the Bill has faced fierce criticism from all corners of British politics. Labour rebel MP Karl Turner said the reforms were “unworkable, unjust, unpopular and unnecessary,” while his colleague Charlotte Nichols accused the Justice Secretary of “weaponising” victims in the debate.

Over 3,000 lawyers and 300 top barristers and retired judges also called on the Government to scrap the plans to abolish juries.