Crime and Policing Bill: motion to disagree with Lords Amendment 2

What happened: On 14 April 2026, MPs voted by 307 to 176 to reject Lords Amendment 2 to the Crime and Policing Bill, backing the government's position that its own alternative provisions should replace the amendment passed in the upper chamber. The government simultaneously tabled amendments (a) to (c) in lieu, meaning it was not simply blocking the Lords change but substituting its own version of the policy.

Why it matters: Lords Amendment 2 was one of hundreds of changes made to what the government has described as the largest criminal justice bill in a generation. The bill spans knife crime, violence against women and girls (VAWG), antisocial behaviour, online safety, and terrorism-related offences. By rejecting this specific amendment while offering its own alternative measures, the government maintained control over the precise legal drafting of provisions that will affect how courts, police, and technology platforms respond to a range of serious harms. The bill's online safety elements include new duties on platforms to remove non-consensual intimate images and powers to extend the Online Safety Act to cover AI chatbots.

The politics: Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs voted unanimously for the government's position, delivering 298 of the 307 aye votes. All 92 Conservative MPs present voted no, as did all 61 Liberal Democrats, reflecting cross-opposition resistance to the government's substitution rather than to the bill's broader aims. Smaller parties including the DUP, Greens, Plaid Cymru, and Reform UK also voted no. One independent voted with the government while seven voted against. The debate on this and related amendments revealed tensions within Labour's own ranks over provisions on protest rights and the handling of AI regulation, though these did not translate into rebellions in the lobbies on this division.