Police Bill – a good night for freedom… so far…

So far, so good, as the block of Labour and Liberal Democrat Peers, plus four dozen or so Crossbenchers, are solidly defeating the Government on its so-called “reforms” relating to the right to protest, amongst other things.

But first, Baroness Newlove’s amendment, including misogyny in hate crime law has been passed, as Baroness Meral Hussein-Ece celebrated;

A duty of candour for the police has been added to the Bill as well;

Moving on to the draconian limits on protest tacked onto this Bill by the Government, the amendment by Lord Brian Paddick, removing the proposed right for the police to ban or restrict public assembly, has been defeated by 238 votes to 171, with virtually no support for the Government aside from its own benches, a developing theme this evening.

Noisy protests, as well as the right to protest in Parliament Square, have also been saved…

But the Lords is still sitting, with a few more key votes expected, with the only hope for the Conservatives being if Opposition Peers start melting away. No sign of that yet…

We’ll be back, with a more fulsome report, in the morning.

* Mark Valladares is Liberal Democrat Voice’s erratic Lords Correspondent. If someone else fancies the job, get in touch!

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