LONDON (Parliament Politics Magazine) – For the second time, the Government’s attempt to restrict “noisy” protests was defeated in the Lords.
The Tory-dominated Commons were defeated by the peers by 208 votes to 166, giving them a 42-vote majority.
Peers, In the same session, voted 190 to 175 in favour of removing the “noise trigger” for public gatherings and preventing an increase of police powers for such gatherings, giving them a 15-vote majority.
Lord Coaker joked that the Government was producing advertisements for double glazing firms, citing government laws that stated: “If [protests] are conducted outside a building with double glazing, it’s unlikely to have the same impact” of noise as compared to a building without double glazing.
The Government has gotten itself into a tremendous problem in terms of noise, the former Home Office minister remarked.
“What on earth does ‘too noisy’ mean?” Some people are disturbed by very little noise, while others are irritated by no noise at all,” he added.
The noise amendment, he later told the Mirror, was “unworkable and impractical.”
The Government was rocked by a mammoth 14 defeats in the Lords when the Bill was first brought to the Commons, due to its “autocratic” crackdown on the right to protest.
Peers sat up into the wee hours of the morning debating new powers in the Police, Crime, Courts and Sentencing Bill, which would have outlawed too-loud protests and punished anyone who locks themselves to gates for six months.
Baroness Williams, Home Office minister, has called on peers to deter “militants” like the Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain from blocking traffic and wasting police time.
However, independent crossbencher and eminent QC Lord Carlile, the former independent reviewer of terrorism law, described the additional powers as “dangerous and menacing.”
After the election, a furious Home Secretary, Priti Patel, accused Labour of “choosing to defend vandals and thugs.” On Twitter, Labour Lords responded by imitating a sad trombone.
“This is a huge victory for the public’s right to demonstrate,” said Stephanie Draper, CEO of Bond, a UK network of NGOs.
The Lords have played a crucial role in pressuring the government to remove powers from this harsh law that would allow police to impose noise restrictions on protests and prohibit people from speaking up.
