Labour: Bin Bill & write one with us
LABOUR plans to vote against the Government’s Police Bill, which could lead to harsher penalties for damaging a statue than for attacking a woman.
Shadow Justice Secretary David Lammy said the “poorly thought out” measures would also impose disproportionate controls on the right to protest.
These included setting conditions on the duration of protests, maximum noise levels and locations. He instead urged ministers to drop the legislation and work crossparty on laws tackling violence against women.
He said: “Now is the time to unite the country and put in place long overdue protections for women against unacceptable violence, including action against domestic homicides, rape and street ATTACK David Lammy harassment. And we must tackle the misogynistic attitudes that underpin the abuse women face.”
The Government has reopened the first public survey of violence against women and girls, which will contribute to a stand-alone strategy.
Separately, ministers are understood to be considering plans for a national register to monitor men who harass or are violent to women.
It would log the estimated 50,000 men convicted annually of offences such as coercive control. Peers will today vote on making misogyny a hate crime, which would allow for longer
sentences to be imposed.
MILLITARY experts warn a huge defence overhaul could weaken the UK on the world stage.
A defence spending review expected within two weeks is predicted to put greater emphasis on space and cyber conflicts.
Critics fear “boots on the ground” numbers will be slashed by 10,000, with several Army battalions axed.
Tanks and other underused weapons are also expected to be retired despite warnings that Britain’s ageing vehicles would be outmatched in any conflict with Russia.
A report by the School of Security Studies at King’s College London says previous revamps massively underestimated the costs of new technologies.
The study by Dr David Jordan also notes that a 1966 review scrapped a planned aircraft carrier, which would have been a boon in 1982’s Falklands War.
He said: “Succumbing to the temptation to remove capabilities wholesale, while having financial sense... may be attractive but tends to rebound.”