Crime and Policing Bill Report Stage: Amendment 175

What happened: Parliament voted on Amendment 175 to the Crime and Policing Bill during its Report Stage on 17 June 2025. The amendment was defeated by 336 votes to 184. The vote formed part of a broader day of debate on a wide range of proposed changes to the Bill, covering topics including commercial sexual exploitation, e-bikes and e-scooters, knife crime, tool theft, joint enterprise law, and sex-based harassment in public.

Why it matters: The Crime and Policing Bill is a major piece of legislation covering police powers, sentencing, and a wide range of criminal offences. Report Stage is the phase of parliamentary scrutiny where MPs propose and vote on specific changes to a Bill's text after it has passed through Committee. The opposition amendments debated alongside Amendment 175 sought to extend the Bill's reach into areas such as criminalising the purchase of sex, toughening penalties for tool theft, reforming joint enterprise law, and commencing an already-passed Act on sex-based harassment in public. By defeating Amendment 175, the government preserved its own version of the Bill without the modifications proposed by opposition and backbench MPs.

The politics: The vote divided almost entirely along party lines. All 328 Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted did so against the amendment, while Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Reform UK, the Democratic Unionist Party, and the Traditional Unionist Voice all voted in favour. Five independents supported the amendment and three voted against. The Green MP present voted against the amendment. There were no Labour rebels. The result reflects the government's substantial Commons majority and its ability to defeat opposition amendments during Report Stage without difficulty.