---

Policing and Crime Bill

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Jones, and the Minister for their contributions to this short debate. I, too, had about 12 pages of notes on this group alone but, in the interests of time, I condensed them into about four sentences. We share in common the fact that there are issues here and, as the various reports come to be debated in your Lordships’ House, they will merit serious scrutiny. We need to consider how guidance is interpreted and how we move forward into a healthier recognition that protests need to take place in a democracy. Some matters have been demonstrated by HMIC to be unhelpful—for example, a bad communications gap can cause things to go wrong between protestors and the police, as can physical issues such as the early use of shields and so on—and, as the Minister knows, the practice of kettling is being examined. There is a great deal to debate and I hope that we will have a further opportunity to look in greater depth at whether we need some legislative tweaks. I do not fully accept that our legislation has not played a part in leading us into a situation where some protests were policed as though they were criminal activities. I accept the Minister’s comment that most of the time the police are very good at policing demonstrations well and responsibly and with great good humour, and demonstrators appreciate this. However, we need to keep our eye on the situation for the sake of the whole democratic process. In the mean time, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 153 withdrawn. Amendments 154 to 156 not moved.