Courts and Tribunals Bill: Reasoned Amendment to Second Reading

What happened

On 10 March 2026, MPs voted on a reasoned amendment -- a procedural motion used to argue that a bill should not proceed -- to the Courts and Tribunals Bill at its Second Reading (the first major parliamentary debate on a bill's principles). The amendment, put forward by opposition parties, sought to block the bill from advancing any further. It was defeated by 311 votes to 203, meaning the bill was allowed to proceed to the next stage of parliamentary scrutiny.

Why it matters

The defeat of the amendment clears the way for the Courts and Tribunals Bill to continue through Parliament. The bill is the government's response to a record backlog of around 80,000 cases in the criminal courts, with some trials reportedly listed as far ahead as 2030. For victims waiting for justice and defendants whose cases remain unresolved, the bill represents a potential acceleration of court processes. Blocking it at this stage would have halted those reforms entirely, keeping the current system in place.

The politics

The vote divided almost entirely along government-versus-opposition lines. Labour and Labour Co-operative MPs voted overwhelmingly to reject the amendment and let the bill proceed, with only 7 Labour MPs voting to block it. Conservatives (106 votes), Liberal Democrats (63), and a range of smaller parties including Reform UK, the DUP, Plaid Cymru, and the Greens all backed the amendment. The same day, the bill itself passed its Second Reading by 304 votes to 203, confirming cross-party opposition to the legislation's principles even as the government secured its passage.