Sentencing Bill Report Stage: New Clause 19

What happened: The House of Commons voted on 29 October 2025 on New Clause 19, an amendment to the Sentencing Bill tabled by Conservative MPs, which would have modified sentencing provisions relating to the murder of police or prison officers killed in the course of their duties. The amendment was defeated by 323 votes to 173, with the government's position prevailing.

Why it matters: New Clause 19 sought to ensure that offenders who murder a police or prison officer specifically because of that officer's professional role would face the fullest available sentencing consequences. Its defeat means the Sentencing Bill proceeds without that specific provision. The broader bill itself is the government's flagship response to a prison capacity crisis, introducing an earned progression model for release, reforms to short-term sentences, and intensive supervision courts. The Sentencing Bill affects sentencing across England and Wales, with implications for prison population projections that the government has indicated could exceed 100,000 within three years without reform.

The politics: The vote divided almost entirely along party lines. All 277 Labour MPs and 33 Labour and Co-operative MPs voted against the amendment, while all 94 voting Conservatives, all 63 voting Liberal Democrats, all 7 voting Reform UK members, and all 4 voting Plaid Cymru members voted in favour. The Greens, unusually, sided with the government, casting 4 votes against the amendment. This cross-opposition alliance in favour of the amendment was insufficient to overcome Labour's majority. The Conservatives used the debate to attack the government's approach as insufficiently tough on serious offenders, while Labour ministers defended the bill as building on evidence, including evidence commissioned by the previous Conservative government, and pointed to what they described as the previous administration's record of sentence inflation without corresponding prison capacity.