Product Regulation and Metrology Bill [Lords] Report Stage: Amendment 24

MPs defeated Amendment 24 to the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill at Report Stage on 4 June 2025, by 273 votes to 164. The amendment would have restricted the government's power to create new enforcement functions and criminal sanctions through secondary legislation, that is, regulations made by ministers without a full parliamentary vote on each measure. The vote matters because it determines how enforceable the Bill's product regulations will be in practice. Supporters of the amendment argued that allowing ministers to create criminal penalties through secondary legislation, rather than through primary legislation subject to full parliamentary scrutiny, risks imprisoning people who inadvertently stock non-compliant products without adequate democratic oversight. The government and its supporters countered that without enforcement powers, businesses that follow the rules will be undercut by those who ignore them, and that comparable primary legislation such as the Building Safety Act 2022 already grants similar powers. The division split almost entirely along party lines. All 243 Labour MPs and 27 Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted opposed the amendment, while all 91 voting Conservatives, 62 Liberal Democrats, and 6 Reform UK MPs supported it. Two independents voted on each side. No notable cross-party rebellion was recorded. The amendment reflects a broader Conservative critique of the Bill as a so-called "Trojan horse" that gives ministers wide powers to reshape product regulation post-Brexit with limited parliamentary scrutiny.