Crime and Policing Bill: motion to agree with all remaining Lords Amendments

MPs voted 247 to 21 on 14 April 2026 to accept the remaining Lords amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill, effectively clearing the last parliamentary hurdle for what the Government described as the largest criminal justice bill in a generation. The result means the bill passed with its full package of Lords changes intact, covering new offences on retail worker assault, child criminal exploitation, cuckooing, spiking, and AI-generated child sexual abuse material, alongside expanded police powers and online safety measures. The vote matters because it brings into law a sweeping set of changes to criminal justice across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. New duties will require teachers, healthcare professionals, and others in regulated roles to report suspected child sexual abuse. Corporate criminal liability is broadened so that companies can be held responsible for offences committed by senior managers. Confiscation powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 are reformed, and courts gain new tools including Respect Orders to tackle persistent anti-social behaviour. The online safety provisions extend to unregulated AI chatbots, requiring them to proactively remove illegal content or face enforcement from Ofcom. The 21 votes against came almost entirely from within Labour's own ranks, an unusual position on a Government bill. Labour MP Andy McDonald raised a point of order before the vote, arguing that Lords amendment 312, which he said poses a threat to freedoms of thought, religion, expression, and assembly under Articles 9, 10, and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, had been bundled into the remaining amendments package rather than put to a separate vote. Three Plaid Cymru MPs, two MPs for Your Party, one Green MP, and three Independents also voted against. The Conservatives had no vote recorded for all 116 of their MPs, and all five of the Democratic Unionist Party's MPs voted in favour. The bill had already passed through multiple related divisions across April 2026, and those votes showed the Government consistently commanding a majority of around 130 to 135 on contested questions.