The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in committee

• Wilful obstruction and locking on.
• Serious Disruption Prevention Orders.

The committee stage of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in the House of Lords came to an unexpected end last week at 1.20am the night of November 24/25. By then, their lordships had been at it for some 70 hours over 11 days. They had considered more than 450 amendments. Labour, Liberal Democrat, Green Party and Crossbencher peers moved amendments which were debated, often at great length, rebutted by the government and then withdrawn. Not a single one had been put to a vote.

The previous week the government had tabled almost 20 pages of amendments proposing significant public order changes aimed at the problems caused by Extinction Rebellion and similar radical protest. The government hoped to get the amendments accepted by the committee. The Liberal Democrats signalled that they would call for a vote. But, quite apart from their controversial content, the late tabling