Crime and Policing Bill Report Stage: New Clause 43

On 18 June 2025, MPs voted on new clause 43 to the Crime and Policing Bill, which would have commenced the Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Act 2023, a law that criminalises harassment of people in public based on their sex. The new clause was defeated by 305 votes to 147. The Government voted against. The practical effect of the vote is that the 2023 Act remains on the statute book but unenforceable. The offence it creates, of harassing someone in public on account of their sex, cannot be prosecuted until a separate piece of secondary legislation called a commencement order is laid before Parliament. That order has not been laid in the 21 months since the Act received Royal Assent. Supporters of the new clause argued that passing it would have activated the law immediately, without waiting for the Government to bring forward that order. The Government signalled it preferred to commence the Act through its own statutory instrument but gave no timetable for doing so. Almost all parties backed the new clause except the governing Labour Party and Labour and Co-operative MPs, who provided all 305 votes against. Conservative MPs voted 58 to 0 in favour, Liberal Democrats 65 to 0, the Green Party 4 to 0, Reform UK 5 to 0, and Plaid Cymru 3 to 0. Only two Labour MPs voted in favour. The new clause had been co-signed by more than 100 MPs from across the House, making the Government's opposition notable given that the original 2023 Act passed without a single dissenting vote.