Jesse Norman (MP for Hereford & Herefordshire South) and Bill Wiggin (MP for North Herefordshire) have both voted in favour of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill this evening.
MPs voted 359 to 263, a majority of 96, at the second reading and it is now a step closer to becoming law.
There are concerns that the bill could restrict people’s right to protest, however those supporting it back it mainly because of increased sentencing for crimes such as assaulting an emergency services worker, scrapping the automatic release halfway through a sentence of serious, violent sexual offenders and also increasing punishments for those found guilty of terrorism offences.
The incidents over the weekend at protests following the death of Sarah Everard have caused critics to question the bill with serious concerns that it will restrict the right to protest.
The legislation is expected to give more powers to police to tackle ‘non violent’ protests and opposition parties have criticised this move.
