MPs have blocked an attempt to introduce a minimum sentence for rape as the voted through a highly controversial new bill.
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill later cleared the House of Commons by 365 votes to 265 on Monday evening.
But attempts to scrap controversial curbs on protests were rejected by Government MPs.
As part of efforts to overhaul the justice system, the Government has proposed a raft of changes in the Bill which have sparked months of ‘kill the bill’ protests on the streets.
These include plans to give police in England and Wales more powers to impose conditions on non-violent protests judged to be too noisy and thereby causing ‘intimidation or harassment’ or ‘serious unease, alarm or distress’ to the public.
More to follow.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.