Twickenham MP's pleas for Government to scrap "draconian" laws in Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill ignored

By The Editor 13th Aug 2021

This week a controversial bill was approved by MPs in the House Of Commons ignoring dozens of proposed amendemtns from MPs including Twickenham MP Munira Wilson.

Munira Wilson MP and the Liberal Democrats led attempts to scrap what they call "draconian measures" included in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill that will see restrictions on people's right to protest.

The proposed legislation for crime and justice in England and Wales has led to a movement of Kill the Bill protests. It caused outrage earlier this year for proposed restrictions on protests and enhanced police powers, including a 10-year prison sentence for the offence of 'serious annoyance'.

On Monday July 5 MPs approved the Bill by 365 votes to 265 in its third and final reading in House of Commons.

It will now move to the House of Lords for the Lords to debate and make their amendments.

Wilson attempted to amend the Bill before it passed to the House of Lords, to prevent restrictions being placed on demonstrations. She argued that these new measures would threaten people's human rights to protest - a fundamental part of democracy.

Speaking after the vote, Munira said that the measures in this bill would significantly "undermine our rights".

She labelled the bill as both "unreasonable" and "totally disproportionate".

She said: "I have received hundreds of emails from constituents concerned about the provisions in this Bill.

The draconian measures concerning protests undermine our rights to stand up for what we believe in.

The whole point of protests is to draw attention to an issue. It's totally unreasonable that this new law enables police to clamp down on protests for being too noisy, given how important protests are to our democracy.

"Furthermore, the Bill's creation of a 10-year prison sentence for causing someone 'serious annoyance' is totally disproportionate.

"That's why the Liberal Democrats led attempts to scrap these measures, and although the Government voted these down, we will keep standing up for people's fundamental rights."

She added: "The Bill also creates a new criminal offence of trespass and risks criminalising ramblers, off-road cyclists and canoeists. My constituents have made it clear to me that they oppose these restrictions."

Following many local residents writing to Munira about the issue, she joined calls to make a specific offence of pet theft, taking into account the distress caused to both the animal and the owner when sentencing.

Munira also supported amendments to give retail workers greater protection from assault and threatening behaviour, following violence against shop workers worsening during the pandemic.

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