TORIES voted against amendments to the UK Government’s domestic abuse bill which would have put repeat domestic abusers and stalkers on a register in England this week.
The outcome of the vote prompted anger, as media had been briefed that the measures would be supported following the death of Sarah Everard.
The amendment was overwhelmingly backed in the Lords last month and Home Secretary Priti Patel had pledged to “look at all measures”.
READ MORE: MSPs vote unanimously for new domestic abuse protections orders
Government sources had also told the Sunday Times that the measures had support from Justice Secretary Robert Buckland.
A petition calling for a stalkers’ register to be created won nearly a quarter of a million signatures.
However on Thursday all but two Tory MPs voted against the amendment.
All six Tory MPs rejected the proposal. Moray MP Douglas Ross, Dumfries and Galloway MP Alister Jack, Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk MP John Lamont, Banff and Buchan MP David Duguid, Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale MP David Mundell and West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine MP Andrew Bowie all voted to disagree with amendment 42.
SNP MPs did not vote on amendment 42 – The National understands this was because it was a devolved area.
Campaigners are disappointed after the proposals failed to win support in the Commons.
Sophie Francis-Cansfield, senior campaigns and policy officer at Women’s Aid, believes a register may have been effective.
“Domestic abuse remains underreported and only a small proportion of survivors see criminal sanctions against their perpetrator – a register could have been a useful tool.
“We have to find ways to proactively hold perpetrators to account and prioritise survivors’ safety.”
A UK Government spokesperson defended the situation. They told The Guardian: “There has been no U-turn. The Lords amendment is not calling for a register, but instead changes to multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA).
“The government agrees that high-harm domestic abuse perpetrators need to be effectively monitored and supervised, which is why serial and high-harm domestic abuse offenders are eligible for management under MAPPA. Adding a new category of offenders automatically eligible for MAPPA risks adding complexity to those arrangements without any gain.”
READ MORE: UWS and Action Against Stalking team up in new prevention centre project
UK ministers have now tabled a new amendment in which the Government agrees to publish a strategy for prosecuting and managing offenders involved in domestic abuse.
Last month the Scottish Parliament passed its Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Bill, which gives more powers to police and courts to protect people at risk from domestic abuse.
The bill aims to enable police and courts to ban suspected abusers from re-entering the home and from approaching or contacting the at-risk person for a period of time. It will also let social landlords end or transfer a perpetrator’s tenancy to the victim.
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said the bill shows a “significant shift forward in ensuring protection can be put in place for women in particular”.
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