Boris Johnson is rightly facing the wrath of Tory MPs over the proposed introduction of vaccine passports, but another piece of legislation put forward by the government should also trouble us. Critics of Boris Johnson’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, often focus on its scale. They have a point. The Bill is simply enormous: made up of 13 parts, 179 clauses and hundreds of pages, parliamentarians of all stripes have treated it as a Christmas tree, hanging on it an endless array of special interest amendments. But size isn’t the Bill’s biggest problem. Even if heavily amended, this act – which is going through parliament today and is set to become law next year – threatens to criminalise ordinary Brits. It also points to another worrying trend: those in power are overstepping the mark by seeking to legislate on issues that don’t require legislation. Individuals should be largely free to make choices based on conscience, not fear of legal sanction.
Claire Fox
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