Peers reject Public Order Bill proposals
'Peers voted by a majority of twenty-two in favour of a higher threshold before police can intervene in protests.'
Friends welcomed the news that the House of Lords has inflicted a number of defeats on a bill intended to crack down on protest.
The draft legislation for the Public Order Bill suffered its first defeat when peers voted by a majority of twenty-two (243-221) in favour of a higher threshold before police can intervene in protests.
This means a stricter definition of ‘serious disruption’ will be required to prevent protests.
The debate on 30 January was temporarily adjourned when twelve members of Extinction Rebellion disrupted the proceedings.
Peers also narrowly rejected a proposal to prevent protesting about ‘an issue of current debate’ being used as a reasonable defence, with 224 votes to 221. This part of the legislation referred to offences such as locking-on, tunnelling and blocking roads.
With Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) briefing key parliamentarians ahead of the vote on 30 January, Grace Da Costa, BYM’s public affairs and media manager, tweeted ‘[fingers crossed] for more government defeats on key issues’. The debate returned to parliament on 6 February, as the Friend went to press.
