Sentencing Bill Committee: New Clause 6

MPs voted on 21 October 2025 on New Clause 6 to the Sentencing Bill, tabled by Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative, Huntingdon). The clause would have made lifetime driving bans mandatory for anyone convicted of causing death by dangerous or careless driving. The amendment was defeated by 313 votes to 167. The practical effect of the clause would have been to remove judicial discretion in sentencing for these offences and replace it with a statutory requirement for a permanent ban. Under current law, the minimum disqualification for causing death by dangerous driving is five years, and for causing death by careless driving just 12 months. Obese-Jecty told the Committee that across nearly 3,000 convictions for fatal driving offences since 2017, fewer than 1% of those convicted of causing death by dangerous driving received a lifetime ban, with the figure standing at just two in the previous year alone. The vote divided almost entirely along party lines. All 277 Labour MPs and 26 Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted did so against the clause. All 89 voting Conservatives and all 64 voting Liberal Democrats supported it, as did Plaid Cymru's four members and four Reform UK MPs. The Democratic Unionist Party, the Traditional Unionist Voice, and the Ulster Unionist Party voted against. Seven independents voted in favour and two against. The amendment was one of several opposition proposals considered during the Bill's Committee stage, all of which the Government opposed, reflecting a broader contest over whether the Bill's sentencing reforms were sufficiently tough.