Sentencing Bill Report Stage: New Clause 19

Parliament defeated a Conservative amendment to the Sentencing Bill on 29 October 2025, voting 323 to 173 against New Clause 19, which would have introduced mandatory life sentences for anyone convicted of murdering a police officer or prison officer. The new clause sought to create a statutory requirement that courts impose life sentences in cases where the victim of a murder is a serving police or prison officer. Supporters argued this would send a clear signal that killing those who protect the public carries the harshest available punishment. The government opposed it, with a minister telling the House that the Law Commission is currently conducting a review of homicide law and that it would be wrong to pre-empt that process. Ministers also noted that existing powers already allow courts to impose life sentences in such cases, and that in a specific case raised during debate the offender had in fact received life imprisonment with a minimum 45-year tariff. The vote divided sharply along party lines. All 277 Labour MPs and 33 Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted did so against the new clause. Conservatives provided 94 of the 173 ayes, joined by all 63 voting Liberal Democrats, 7 Reform UK MPs, 4 Plaid Cymru MPs, and 1 Traditional Unionist Voice MP. The Liberal Democrats' support for the amendment represented a cross-party alliance with the Conservatives on this specific measure. No Labour MP voted in favour, and the Greens and the SDLP voted with the government. The result came on a day of multiple contested divisions at Report Stage of the Sentencing Bill, including a near-identical voting pattern on New Clause 1 earlier the same day, which fell 328 to 170.