Crime and Policing Bill Report Stage: New Clause 7

MPs defeated a Conservative-proposed new clause to the Crime and Policing Bill on 18 June 2025, voting 390 to 102 against New Clause 7, which sought to change how police record non-crime hate incidents. Non-crime hate incidents are complaints about behaviour perceived as hateful but falling short of a criminal threshold; the existing framework allows police to log such incidents against the person complained about, even where no offence has been committed. The vote matters because the recording of non-crime hate incidents has been the subject of sustained legal and political controversy. Critics argue the current system can deter people from expressing lawful views, since a record may show up in enhanced background checks. The Conservative amendment aimed to restrict or reform that recording practice on free speech grounds. By defeating the clause, the House left the existing framework intact, at least for the purposes of this bill. The division split almost entirely along party lines. All 91 Conservative MPs who voted backed the new clause, joined by 7 Reform UK members, 2 Democratic Unionist Party members, and 2 independents. Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Labour and Co-operative Party, Plaid Cymru, the Greens, and the two Your Party members all voted against. The Green MP Siân Berry explicitly said in debate that she did not support New Clause 7. The Government opposed the amendment, and its large Commons majority was sufficient to defeat it by a margin of nearly four to one.