Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

MPs want changes to the policing bill

image of a protest with a kill the bill banner

A controversial crime bill – which makes significant changes across the UK’s policing and justice system and led to protests across the country – is due to be debated in Parliament on Monday but MPs are looking to make changes. So what is in the bill and how could it be changed?

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill allows the police to put conditions on certain protests as well as making changes to sentencing and introducing powers to more closely monitor terrorism offenders.

The government says it delivers on its commitment “to crack down on crime and build safer communities”.

The proposed law was first debated by MPs just days after a vigil was held for Sarah Everard, amid concerns over the way the event had been policed.

And so-called Kill the Bill protests were held in cities across the UK by campaigners who believe proposed curbs to protest go against individual human rights.

Other proposals in the bill include:

  • Changing sentencing rules so that serious criminals spend more time in jail before they can be conditionally released
  • Judges will be allowed to consider jailing child murderers for their entire lives
  • Maximum sentences for low-level assaults against emergency service workers doubled to two years
  • On terrorism, the bill creates powers to more closely monitor offenders released from prison
  • Community sentences for less serious crime to address underlying problems in offenders’ lives
  • Changes to sexual offences law to tackle abusive adults in positions of trust, such as sports coaches and religious figures

Now MPs will get the chance to suggest changes they want to make – and so far those changes, known as amendments, run to almost 130 pages.

But a lot of them won’t actually be considered – the expectation is that perhaps only five or six issues could be put to a vote.

House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle will make the final decision.

So where could the arguments be drawn, and what are the bits to look out for?

Protests

This has been the most controversial bit of the government’s proposed changes since they were announced.

The government wants to introduce conditions on protests that are noisy enough to cause “intimidation or harassment” or “serious unease, alarm or distress to bystanders”. And that includes protests consisting of one person. It also restricts any activities around Parliament to a “controlled area”.

Veteran Labour MP Harriet Harman has proposed an amendment which would define “an express statutory right to protest”, with new obligations on public authorities, while also recognising that there should be some limits on the right to protest to protect other legitimate public interests.

Tackling sexual violence

Ms Harman, who chairs the Commons Human Rights Select Committee, is also proposing changes to the handling of sexual allegations, so that rape victims do not have to give evidence on their past sexual history, and judges would need specialist training.

She also wants to create new offences of harassment in a public place and kerb-crawling which amounts to harassment.

Another Labour MP Dame Diane Johnson wants the criminal blame to be shifted to the person who buys a sexual service, and away from anyone who offers it. And pimps or people who benefit from advertising sexual services could be criminalised.

There are also proposals from Labour MP Sarah Champion that would require the government to look at tackling how registered sex offenders can change their names or other aspects of their identity.

Labour has backed a clause that would create a minimum sentence for rape of seven years, unless there are exceptional circumstances which justify not doing so.

Abortion reforms

Labour’s Rupa Huq wants to try to use the bill to introduce buffer zones around abortion clinics to stop intimidation or harassment of women accessing clinics, or people providing abortion services.

Ms Huq has previously tried to introduce specific legislation to ban demonstrations outside clinics. She said women should not “be met by lifelike medically inaccurate foetus dolls and graphic images, or handed misleading literature”.

In 2018, the BBC reported from Ms Huq’s west London constituency where anti-abortion campaigners stood outside a clinic urging women to change their mind.

Pet theft

It is estimated that dog thefts have risen by 250% since the coronavirus pandemic began.

Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith wants to toughen the law against the theft of a pet.

He wants cash sales for animals to be banned, and for there to be a legal requirement on vets to scan a dog’s microchip to check if it is stolen.

His changes would also make the offence of pet theft a specific category of crime, which could mean much higher fines and tougher sentences.

Speaking in the Commons in June, Sir Iain said “pets are more than just property”.

“A dog is a sentient being and therefore has greater value than just an object, and it is time we brought the law up to speed,” he added.

Failure to stop

Labour MP for Exeter Ben Bradshaw wants to create a new offence for failing to stop or report an accident where the driver knew there had been a serious or fatal injury – with a maximum sentence of 14 years.

The change would need cross-party support to become law and Cycling UK has written to MPs urging them to support the amendment.

Duncan Dollimore, head of campaigns at Cycling UK said offenders of road crime can be given “chance after chance to keep their licence yet go on to offend again”.

“Harm caused to others should trump the predictable consequences of accruing penalty points, and the fact that it doesn’t is an insult to victims that makes a mockery of our road traffic laws,” he said.

Attacks on shop workers

There are amendments from Labour MPs that would make a new crime against attacks on shop workers.

Research published last year by the trade union Usdaw suggested 85% of retail workers experienced verbal abuse, and 300,000 were assaulted. But only 6% of incidents reported resulted in a prosecution.

The amendment would create a new offence and a 12-month prison sentence for abuse, threats, and violence against retail workers. On Sunday retail bosses called on the prime minister to take action against violence and abuse aimed at shop staff.

What does the government say?

In a statement the Home Office said: “We are equipping the police with the tools they need to stop violent criminals in their tracks.”

The bill “enshrines our commitment to those brave officers who put themselves in danger to keep rest of us safe into law,” adds the statement.

Source: (BBC News)

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