The Lords have passed a total of sixteen amendments to the Illegal Migration Bill, with strong backing from cross bench peers and the bishops. These amendments now go back to the commons, so this is your chance to lobby your MP to support these reforms.
Category: Civil liberties
Government, the police and intelligence services are too easily given sweeping powers that they too often abuse.
Jenny works with campaigners to defend our civil liberties. She has worked on legislation like the Investigatory Powers Bill, raised the cases of victims of state power such as detained pregnant women, and defended the right to protest.
Violence Against Women and Girls
The solutions to the problem within our society involve addressing the imbalances of power – including economic and social power – that can leave individuals vulnerable to domestic abuse Continue reading “Violence Against Women and Girls”
Assault on democracy
This government has launched an assault on our democracy. It is trying to discourage opposition voters reaching the ballot box with Voter ID; it is giving the police the power to ban protests that create “more than minor” disruption; and it is trying to by-pass parliamentary democracy by handing more power to Ministers. Continue reading “Assault on democracy”
An appeal to Labour’s frontbench: save parliamentary democracy
This is an appeal to the Labour front bench: please talk to some constitutional lawyers urgently about my Fatal Motion, or even Gordon Brown, who produced such an expert report on reforming the second chamber. It appears that Emily Thornberry MP, Labour’s Shadow Attorney General hasn’t had the full picture explained to her. In a tweet the other day, she argued:
“Labour doesn’t vote in the House of Lords to kill a bill, that’s the Commons’ job. The constitutional position is the unelected Lords is a revising chamber only. If a precedent was set, the Tories could easily use their majority in the Lords to do the same to a Lab govt’s laws.”
Continue reading “An appeal to Labour’s frontbench: save parliamentary democracy”
My petition to defend rights and democracy
Only a few weeks ago the Government lost a vote in the Lords on the Public Order Bill to change the interpretation of “serious disruption” of other people’s day-to-day activities to mean “anything more than minor” and now the government are now trying to reinsert this change via secondary legislation which has less Parliamentary scrutiny and can’t be amended in any way. Baroness Jenny Jones has tabled a fatal motion to stop their proposal from becoming law.
Continue reading “My petition to defend rights and democracy”
Whistleblowing Framework
We must consider an office of the whistleblower, we need something very drastic as the current legislation is no protection at all Continue reading “Whistleblowing Framework”
3 Big government defeats on EU laws Bill
We had three significant government defeats on amendments to the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill
My Anti-corruption Bill
After the success in the Lords of my Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill I’m very happy with the warm cross party support for my new Anti-corruption Bill (thank you Mr Starmer). When adopted it will reverse the damage done by over a decade of corporate lobbying and political donations to the Conservative Party.
The mass poisoning of school children in Iran
My Question for Written Answer: To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to work with international partners to establish a UN investigation into the mass poisoning of school children in Iran. Continue reading “The mass poisoning of school children in Iran”
Public Order Bill Ping Pong
The Public Order Bill has returned again to the Commons with Lords amendments after 2 rounds of Ping Pong. The Lords are digging in on suspicion-less stop and search having won on the protection of journalists. Details of the government defeats can be viewed here Continue reading “Public Order Bill Ping Pong”








