Member

I want to remind noble Lords what we are being asked to sign up to. Respect orders are not just to be used to deal with an individual engaged in anti-social behaviour. You can also be issued with an order if it is concluded that someone threatens to engage in said behaviour. That is a preventive order that can be dangerously open-ended. What does “threatens to engage in” mean? It means that criminal sanctions based on speculation rather than actual behaviour can be applied. This is based on a definition of anti-social behaviour as not just conduct that has caused harassment, alarm or distress to any person but conduct that is