Thank you for contacting me about the Elections Bill and the Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Bill.
Firstly, I would like to reassure you that the Elections Bill aims to make elections fairer and more transparent. Non-party campaigners play a valuable and growing role in our political landscape, but it is important that voters are informed about how these groups spend and receive money. Therefore, the Elections Bill will require non-party campaigners spending more than £10,000 in the period before a general election to register with the Electoral Commission, down from the current threshold of £20,000; extend joint spending rules to include political parties and non-party campaigners who are working together at an election; and stop groups from registering both as a political party and as a non-party campaigner.
Moreover, the Bill will make clear that campaigning in UK elections is restricted to UK-based campaign groups, helping to protect our democracy from the influence of foreign powers. It is also important to note that the Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Bill will not impinge on our vital right to protest. The measures in the Bill are aimed at ensuring the police can better manage some highly disruptive protests, like recent protests where ambulances were stopped from reaching hospitals, which themselves affect the rights of individuals to go about their daily business. Moreover, the police will still have to act in a manner compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, including its provisions on freedom of expression and freedom of association.
The Bill’s provisions on public nuisance also simply give effect to recommendations made by the Law Commission about replacing the common law offence of public nuisance with a statutory offence that covers the same conduct. The new offence does not prohibit anything that is not already prohibited. Therefore, I believe that both these Bills are consistent with our commitment to a healthy, safe, and secure democracy, and I will continue to support them as they progress through Parliament.
