Parlimentary Support
In May 2011 Edward Leigh MP tabled an amendment to delete the word “insulting” from Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986.
A large number of MPs added their names to his amendment, reflecting broad cross-party support.
The amendment did not become law.
However this show of strength by MPs forced the Government to hold a public consultation on Section 5. The Government reaction to the views expressed in that consultation is awaited.
Below is the full list of the 65 MPs who signed the amendment.
| First name | Surname | Party | Constituency |
|---|---|---|---|
| David | Amess | Con | Southend West |
| Steve | Baker | Con | Wycombe |
| Alan | Beith | LDem | Berwick-upon-Tweed |
| Joe | Benton | Lab | Bootle |
| Brian | Binley | Con | Northampton South |
| Peter | Bone | Con | Wellingborough |
| Peter | Bottomley | Con | Worthing West |
| Graham | Brady | Con | Altrincham and Sale West |
| Tom | Brake | LDem | Carshalton and Wallington |
| Fiona | Bruce | Con | Congleton |
| Menzies | Campbell | LDem | North East Fife |
| Gregory | Campbell | DUP | East Londonderry |
| Douglas | Carswell | Con | Clacton |
| James | Clappison | Con | Hertsmere |
| Rosie | Cooper | Lab | West Lancashire |
| David | Davis | Con | Haltemprice and Howden |
| Jim | Dobbin | Lab | Heywood and Middleton |
| Frank | Dobson | Lab | Holborn and St Pancras |
| Nigel | Dodds | DUP | Belfast North |
| Jeffrey | Donaldson | DUP | Lagan Valley |
| Frank | Doran | Lab | Aberdeen North |
| Nadine | Dorries | Con | Mid Bedfordshire |
| Mark | Durkan | SDLP | Foyle |
| Natascha | Engel | Lab | North East Derbyshire |
| Tim | Farron | LDem | Westmorland and Lonsdale |
| Frank | Field | Lab | Birkenhead |
| Roger | Gale | Con | North Thanet |
| John | Glen | Con | Salisbury |
| Roger | Godsiff | Lab | Birmingham Hall Green |
| Ben | Gummer | Con | Ipswich |
| Fabian | Hamilton | Lab | Leeds North East |
| Simon | Hart | Con | Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire |
| John | Hemming | LDem | Birmingham Yardley |
| Gordon | Henderson | Con | Sittingbourne and Sheppey |
| Kate | Hoey | Lab | Vauxhall |
| Philip | Hollobone | Con | Kettering |
| Kelvin | Hopkins | Lab | Luton North |
| Tristram | Hunt | Lab | Stoke-on-Trent Central |
| Julian | Huppert | LDem | Cambridge |
| Charles | Kennedy | LDem | Ross, Skye and Lochaber |
| Jeremy | Lefroy | Con | Stafford |
| Edward | Leigh | Con | Gainsborough |
| Peter | Lilley | Con | Hitchin and Harpenden |
| Stephen | Lloyd | LDem | Eastbourne |
| Naomi | Long | All | Belfast East |
| Caroline | Lucas | Green | Brighton Pavilion |
| Anne | Main | Con | St Albans |
| William | McCrea | DUP | South Antrim |
| Penny | Mordaunt | Con | Portsmouth North |
| Jesse | Norman | Con | Hereford and South Herefordshire |
| David | Nuttall | Con | Bury North |
| Ian | Paisley | DUP | North Antrim |
| Mark | Pritchard | Con | The Wrekin |
| John | Pugh | LDem | Southport |
| Dominic | Raab | Con | Esher and Walton |
| Adrian | Sanders | LDem | Torbay |
| Richard | Shepherd | Con | Aldridge-Brownhills |
| Graham | Stringer | Lab | Blackley and Broughton |
| John | Thurso | LDem | Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross |
| Andrew | Turner | Con | Isle of Wight |
| Martin | Vickers | Con | Cleethorpes |
| Tom | Watson | Lab | West Bromwich East |
| James | Wharton | Con | Stockton South |
| John | Whittingdale | Con | Maldon |
| Sammy | Wilson | DUP | East Antrim |
Polling Data
The Reform Section 5 campaign asked ComRes to survey MPs to find out their attitudes on the reform of Section 5. The results speak for themselves:
It is no business of the criminal law to outlaw insults: 62% agree, just 25% disagree.
The word "insulting" should be removed from Section 5 of the Public Order Act to protect freedom of speech: 58% agree, with just 22% disagreeing.
If "insulting" is removed from Section 5, it will undermine the ability of the police to protect the public. Just 17% of MPs agreed with this, whilst 63% disagreed.
Download the ComRes polling data.
ComRes surveyed 154 MPs between 14th February to 14th March 2011 by self-completion postal or online questionnaire. Data were weighted to reflect the exact composition of the House of Commons.