Crime and Policing Bill: Government motion in relation to LA439

MPs voted on 22 April 2026 to reject Lords amendments 439E and 439F to the Crime and Policing Bill, insisting instead on the Commons' own amendments 439C and 439D. The government motion passed by 253 votes to 143. The amendments in question concerned a requirement for the Home Secretary to review the proscription of groups linked to the Iranian armed forces, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). This was the third time the Commons had voted to reject Lords changes on related provisions, as part of the back-and-forth process between the two chambers known as parliamentary ping-pong. The practical effect is that the Bill will not include a statutory obligation on the Home Secretary to review whether the IRGC should be proscribed as a terrorist organisation. The government argued that no responsible administration can publicly commit to a timetable or commentary on proscription decisions, on the grounds that doing so could compromise national security. The Lords had twice pushed back, seeking to compel a formal review, but the elected Commons has now prevailed. The vote also touched on fixed penalty notices for antisocial behaviour, where the government committed to clarifying proportionality requirements through statutory guidance rather than accepting the Lords' alternative wording. Labour MPs voted unanimously in favour of the government motion, with 251 combined Labour and Labour and Co-operative votes. Conservatives and Liberal Democrats voted entirely against, providing the 143 noes. The Greens also voted no. The Liberal Democrats chose not to force a separate vote on the fixed penalty notice provisions, indicating a degree of pragmatic concession on that front while maintaining their opposition on the IRGC question. The vote sits at the final stages of a lengthy Bill that has passed through multiple rounds of ping-pong, with this division representing the government's attempt to close down remaining points of disagreement and bring the legislation to Royal Assent.