Independent Review of Public Order and Hate Crime Legislation
Monday, 23 March 2026
Contributions
Will Stone (Swindon North) (Lab)Labour
4. What her timetable is for publishing the independent review of public order and hate crime legislation.
The Minister for Policing and Crime (Sarah Jones)Labour
My hon. Friend asks for the timetable on the independent review of public order and hate crime legislation. He will know that this has been ongoing for some time—since the Heaton Park attack, which happened in October 2025 —and we are hoping to receive the final report by the end of May.
I thank the Minister for her response. This review is incredibly important in protecting people’s rights to protest and ensuring that our communities are kept safe. Will she give me her word that she will do everything within her power to ensure that the review comes out by the end of May?
I can tell my hon. Friend that although Lord Macdonald is working independently he has assured us that the review will come before the end of May, and we will respond before the summer recess. It is very important.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)Democratic Unionist Party
I led a deputation to Kurdistan about five weeks ago, and was impressed by what the Government were doing there in relation to public order and hate crime legislation. There are many things in Kurdistan that we in the United Kingdom could take on board and have as our core values. It may be outside the remit of the Minister, but if they do something good somewhere else, I think we should look at it here, so will she do that for me?
We are always very happy to look at countries where good things are happening and learn those lessons, so I am very happy to do that.
Source: UK Parliament Hansard API. Debate ID: 5257792.