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;

Really pleased we won. #Misogyny https://t.co/RSZOO7UFRN pic.twitter.com/Nrb324yIuV

— Meral Hussein-Ece (@meralhece) January 17, 2022

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

🚨NEW: A joint Lib Dem/Lab amendment to establish a duty of candour on members of the police workforce has passed in the Lords. This was a key recommendation of the review into murder of Daniel Morgan and will be important to the inquiry into the death of Sarah Everard #PCSCBill

— Lib Dem Lords (@LibDemLords) January 17, 2022

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.

🚨NEW: The Lords have passed a Lib Dem amendment from @brianpaddick to the #PCSCBill which removes the section that would allow the police to ban or place restrictions on public assemblies (as opposed to protests) – a power that they have never had before.

— Lib Dem Lords (@LibDemLords) January 17, 2022

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

Two more Gvt defeats. Their attempt to outlaw noisy demos and ban assembles bite the dust.

— Dick Newby (@RichardNewby3) January 17, 2022

FIVE votes to protect our civil liberties. FIVE votes WON.
Five more to go. #Determined @LibDemLords

— Kath Pinnock 🔶💙 (@KathPinnock) January 17, 2022

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!