MPs remove Lords’ changes to Policing Bill
MPs have voted down the positive changes made to the Policing Bill by members of the House of Lords.
Quakers in Britain and other members of the Police Bill Alliance successfully campaigned for the Lords to make amendments in January around noise, public assemblies and one-person protests.
But a majority of MPs voted with the government on Monday 28 February to remove these changes and further strengthen police powers in the bill. Steve Baker MP, with whom Quakers and Big Brother Watch have been in regular contact, was the only Conservative MP who voted to keep these amendments in the bill.
Quakers joined eighty other faith groups in a joint faith and belief letter to MPs, featured on Premier Christian News, to encourage more Conservative MPs to rebel against the government on these issues.
The draconian bill, which risks destroying people's right to protest, will now return to the House of Lords for Peers to consider if they want to stand firm on their changes or accept compromises. Removing the ability of the police to impose noise restrictions on protests remains a top priority for us as the bill goes to the Lords and then back to the Commons in a process known as 'ping pong'.