Crime bill: Lords defeats for government's protest clamp-down plans

Posted: 18th January 2022

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IMAGE SOURCE, PA MEDIA

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A demonstration against the bill was held outside Parliament as peers debated the proposed law

The government has suffered a series of defeats in the House of Lords over its plans to clamp down on disruptive and noisy protesters.

Opposition peers voted against a range of measures in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, with Labour calling some of the plans “outrageous”.

No you’re not dreaming, I actually do have some good news to share with you.

Last night the House of Lords voted to protect our right to protest! Every amendment that the government shoved into the Policing Bill at the very last minute was defeated - a clear win for our democracy and our freedoms. [1]

It’s beyond fitting that the many protests against the Bill over the past few days played such a key role in defeating the government last night. People power is alive and well today.

Thank you to everyone that marched, emailed MPs, signed petitions and demanded change. This wouldn’t have been possible without you. And for that I just want you to know how grateful I am for all your support.

What happens next? The Bill will go through a stage known as “ping-pong”, where it goes back and forth from the Commons to the Lords before it’s passed into law. Because of the underhand tactics the government used to avoid parliamentary scrutiny, MPs can’t overturn the decision to scrap amendments relating to criminalising locking on, new “Serious Disruption Prevention Orders”, stop and search and banning protests on major infrastructure. The government has inadvertently shot themselves in the foot.

However, in general there are still many proposals in the Bill which pose a huge threat to our civil liberties. MPs can also try to bring back plans to restrict noise and banning protests around parliament, because they were in the Bill from the start. So we can’t fully celebrate just yet. The Bill also still contains other oppressive parts, for example criminalising Roma, Gypsy and Traveler communities’ way of life.

Nevertheless, well done, this is a victory for everyone. Freedom and democracy belongs to every single one of us, and this is a big blow to the government’s plans to take away our rights.

I’ll be in touch when we make our next move, but until then thanks so much again for defending everyone’s basic human right to protest.

Best wishes,

Jack

Greenpeace UK