MPs call for more action on violence against women in policing bill
A government minister has defended a new policing bill after accusations it does not go far enough to address violence against women and girls.
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will be debated by MPs later in the aftermath of the killing of 33-year-old Sarah Everard.
Labour said they would vote against it for “ignoring violence against women”.
But Policing Minister Kit Malthouse said the legislation would “confront violence that affects everybody”.
There are also calls to remove clauses from the bill which critics say would “curb the right of peaceful protests”.
The government said the legislation would allow police to “impose conditions such as start and finish times and maximum noise levels on static protests” of whatever size – which Mr Malthouse described as “mild streamlining” of the law introduced in 1986.
But Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called the measures “shocking” and “offensive anti-democratic proposals”.
It comes after a vigil to Ms Everard at Clapham Common on Saturday ended with women being handcuffed on the floor and removed from the gathering.
The Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer said the police response was “wrong” and it is “good that it is now being investigated and looked in to”.
He said Ms Everard’s death “has to be a turning point”, adding “we can’t keep talking about it. We have to address it”.
Mr Malthouse told BBC Breakfast the new bill would introduce a “serious violence duty” on local authorities, so they could work with police to “diagnose the causes of violence in the area and then produce a strategy to deal with it”.
He added: “That will confront violence that affects everybody, including women and girls.”
Source: (BBC News)