The Public Order Bill has hit a snag in the House of Lords as the Tories try to push it through government. The bill is currently in its final reading. However, in a win for activists the House of Lords has voted to defeat clause 11, which concerns giving police powers to stop and search without suspicion:
#HouseOfLords votes to remove clause 11 in the #PublicOrderBill on powers to stop and search without suspicion.
Members vote 285 in favour, 209 against, so the change is made.https://t.co/3gcVsi5gpy
— House of Lords (@UKHouseofLords) February 7, 2023
Ministers were also defeated in wanting to shut down “disruptive” protests. This involves people who are walking slowly as a form of protest, or people who block roads. Famously, Just Stop Oil, Extinction Rebellion, and more have used these forms of protest to great effect.
Heavy defeat
As Sky News reported, the objections from the Lords made for a “bruising” series of defeats:
In total, the government suffered six defeats on the second day of the bill’s bruising report stage.
Activists and organisations took to Twitter to celebrate the defeats:
Yesterday, the Tory’s Public Order Bill faced a major setback after key aspects of the bill were overturned by the House of Lords.
This is a huge win, with the plans to extend police stop and search powers and allowing them to shutdown ‘potential disruptions’ defeated.
— gal-dem (@galdemzine) February 8, 2023
Journalist Clive Simpson called it a “victory” for civil rights:
LATEST: UK Govt defeated in House of Lords by 285 to 209 votes tonight on Public Order Bill. It means police won’t get powers to stop & search without suspicion. Big defeat for Sunak’s govt and a victory for civil rights & everyone else.
— Clive Simpson 🇪🇺🇮🇪🇵🇹 (@simpson_clive) February 7, 2023
Human rights organisation Liberty also celebrated online:
BREAKING
House of Lords has REJECTED Gov's #PublicOrderBill plan to give police powers to shut down protests on the off chance they become disruptive later
HUGE VICTORY
— Liberty (@libertyhq) February 7, 2023
Liberty has long campaigned against both the Policing Act and the Public Order Bill. The group explained how the Tories have put parts of the Policing Act they couldn’t get parliament to pass into the Public Order Bill:
Thanks to an enormous national movement against it, the House of Lords stripped some of the worst anti-protest proposals out of the Policing Act before it became law.
But the Government is now resurrecting its rejected plans with the Public Order Bill.
What’s next for the Public Order Bill?
The defeats in these two areas – stop and search powers, and disruptive protests – are certainly cause to celebrate. However, it’s galling that we’ve had to rely on the unelected and undemocratic Lords to see it through. The fact that the stop and search clause even made it to the Lords is a disgrace. We already know that stop and search disproportionately targets Black people. As the Canary’s Sophia Purdy-Moore wrote:
We don’t need another woolly report to understand the disproportionate harm caused by stop and search. We already know that that police in England and Wales disproportionately stop and search Black people compared to the general population. And that they’re more likely to use force against Black people…Stop and search, and policing in general, does not prevent crime. It doesn’t protect communities, and it only serves to traumatise and criminalise the most marginalised people in society.
The defeated amendments will go back to the House of Commons for consideration by MPs. That means this fight to defend our right to protest is far from over. It’s worth recognising, too, that activist organisations and protestors are the ones preserving democracy and dissent – not politicians.
Featured image by Unsplash/James Eade
