---

Policing and Crime Bill

My Lords, it is unfortunate that, in a year in which we have had so many issues about the policing of protests, we have a policing Bill that makes no attempt to reform some of the worst laws on protesting. The first group of amendments that deal with this issue—Amendments 153 to 155 and Amendment 159A—suggests two approaches, the first of which is that we repeal legislation that has been used incorrectly to prevent protest. The second group of amendments in this grouping—Amendments 156 and 159—defines orderly protest and aims to protect the right to peaceful protest. The Minister may say that it is too early to discuss these amendments in the light of the G20 protests, which resulted in five independent investigations by the IPCC—it received 276 complaints about them—and, before those protests, the difficulties of the Kingsnorth protest, which resulted in an important strategic-level review by the National Policing Improvement Agency. Despite freedom of information requests and a commitment by Vernon Coaker in the other place to share the results, that review has not been disclosed. Is the Minister able to let us see it and will he place a copy in the Library? The policing of the Heathrow third runway protests also provoked issues but, at this time of night, I shall not go into the individual difficulties that arose. However, it would be reasonable to make the point that the police are there to facilitate peaceful protest. Since the introduction of the relevant legislation, one problem that has arisen is that the definition of "disorder" has gradually become subverted until it is taken to be referring to any form of protest. One minor triumph is that, under the Constitutional Renewal Bill, the clauses in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005—my Amendment 155 refers to these clauses—that forbid demonstrations in the vicinity of Parliament unless they have prior permission from the police are finally repealed. We have been pressing for that from these Benches for a long time. I introduced a Private Member’s Bill to try to do that. I welcome that commitment in the Constitutional Renewal Bill, which I hope will finally see the light of day in this House, too. These amendments are extremely important. With respect to the time of night, I will ask the Minister just a few questions. Does he accept that there is a place for legislation to lay out more clearly the fundamental rights when it comes to peaceful protest? Does he accept that it is unacceptable for the police to prevent or disrupt legitimate protest through tactics such as pre-emptive arrest? Does he accept that the seizure of personal property from demonstrators is not acceptable as a matter of course? He will have seen the Kingsnorth video and will know why that, in particular, concerns me. I appreciate that a policing White Paper is coming, which will cover a lot of these issues, but in order to focus our minds on the areas that will need legislative reform it would be very useful to have this short debate. I beg to move.