North East MPs sound alarm over proposed new protest powers

Mary Kelly Foy, Labour MP for Durham, raised concerns in Parliament during a debate on the Government’s wide-ranging Crime and Policing Bill on Tuesday.

The legislation includes changes affecting anti-social behaviour, theft, pornography, and protest laws.

Ms Foy said: “It would be naive not to ask how a future hard-right government might use a power like this.”

The Bill would require senior police officers to consider the cumulative disruption of protest movements when imposing conditions on demonstrations, a measure criticised by some MPs.

Andy McDonald, MP for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East, described the plans as representing “the dangerous erosion of civil liberties”.

Home Office minister Sarah Jones sought to reassure the House, stating that the changes would not undermine the right to protest.

Ms Jones said: “We have no desire nor would we ever reduce people’s rights to protest.”

The Bill also includes plans to remove the £200 threshold for “low level” theft offences and introduces respect orders aimed at tackling anti-social behaviour.

In addition, repeat fly-tippers could face having points added to their driving licences.

The Bill spans more than 550 pages and has been described by Home Office minister Sarah Jones as “the largest criminal justice Bill in a generation.”

MPs voted down a Lords proposal to allow for the seizure of vehicles from fly-tippers, with Ms Jones noting that police already have existing powers to do so.

Other measures in the Bill include holding tech executives personally liable for failing to remove non-consensual intimate images from their platforms.

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There will also be a new offence for possessing or publishing images depicting sexual acts between real or “pretend” relatives.

Following a Government climbdown, pornography involving step-relatives will also be banned in cases where a performer was or was pretending to be aged under 18.

The Bill will now return to the House of Lords for further consideration of the Commons’ amendments.