Crime and Policing Bill Report Stage: New Clause 1

What happened: On 17 June 2025, the House of Commons voted at Report Stage of the Crime and Policing Bill on New Clause 1, a new provision to be added to the Bill. The clause passed by 379 votes to 137. Report Stage is the phase at which the full House considers amendments and new clauses proposed for addition to a Bill after it has been examined in Committee.

Why it matters: The Crime and Policing Bill is a wide-ranging piece of legislation touching police powers, criminal offences, sentencing and public protection. The Hansard debate from this sitting reveals that the Report Stage session covered an exceptionally broad range of proposed additions, including measures on commercial sexual exploitation, illegal e-bikes and e-scooters, knife crime, tool theft, joint enterprise, firearms licensing, protest rights, facial recognition technology, and the rights of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. New Clause 1 passed with strong cross-party support, signalling that the House endorsed at least one significant addition to the Bill's powers. The scale of the vote, 379 to 137, indicates the Government's position carried comfortably, with backing from Labour, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Greens alongside a small number of Conservatives.

The politics: The Government backed the Aye position, and the vote divided largely along those lines. Labour (including Labour and Co-operative members) voted overwhelmingly in favour. The Liberal Democrats supported the clause with 64 Ayes against only 2 Noes. The Conservatives voted predominantly against, with 90 Noes and only 8 Ayes. Reform UK and the Democratic Unionist Party voted entirely against. The breadth of the Report Stage debate reflects the contested nature of policing legislation, with Labour backbenchers raising concerns about civil liberties and disproportionate impact on minorities alongside Conservative members pressing for tougher enforcement on issues such as e-bikes and tool theft.