Crime and Policing Bill Report Stage: New Clause 130

Parliament voted on 18 June 2025 on New Clause 130 to the Crime and Policing Bill, which would have made tool theft an aggravated offence carrying tougher sentences, required courts to set fines at a level covering the full replacement cost of stolen equipment and lost work, and placed a duty on local councils to produce enforcement plans targeting the sale of stolen tools at car boot sales. The clause was defeated by 313 votes to 178. The vote matters because tool theft imposes direct financial harm on tradespeople who depend on their equipment to earn a living. A Freedom of Information response cited in the debate revealed that nine in ten tool thefts over the past five years in London went unsolved, illustrating the scale of enforcement failure. The clause sought to address that gap by raising the legal consequences for thieves, ensuring fines reflected actual losses rather than nominal penalties, and requiring councils to act against boot sales where stolen tools are openly traded. Its defeat means those specific measures will not be added to the Bill. The vote divided almost entirely along government-versus-opposition lines. All 306 Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted went into the No lobby, while Conservatives (94), Liberal Democrats (60), Reform UK (7), the Greens (4), Plaid Cymru (3), and the Democratic Unionist Party (2) all voted Aye. Seven independents also voted Aye and three voted No. There were no Conservative or Liberal Democrat MPs recorded in the No lobby. The result reflects the government's majority rather than any cross-party disagreement on the principle of tackling tool theft; several MPs across parties, including a Labour MP named in the debate as having campaigned on the issue, were noted as supportive of action.