THE Tories’ “draconian” policing Bill has apparently been delayed following a week of passionate protest outside Parliament. 

The Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill passed its first vote in the Commons on Tuesday.

Hove Labour MP Peter Kyle, who had been tasked to chair the committee examining amendments to the Bill, said on Thursday that MPs were due to start scrutinising the legislation next week. 

But the government’s website shows that the next stage will now not take place untill June 24. Opposition MPs including Diane Abbott and Ian Lavery also said that the Bill appears to have been delayed.

It comes after five days of protest by groups including Sisters Uncut and the People’s Assembly, sparked by police using force to break up a peaceful vigil for Sarah Everard last weekend. 

“The last week has shown that protest works,” a spokeswoman from Sisters Uncut said. “That’s why they want to ban it, and that’s why we’re fighting back.

“The coalition that is coming together shows just how many people are angry about the brutal reality of policing in this country, and who are determined to roll back this dangerous extension of state power.”

The proposed legislation has been widely condemned for stripping protest rights, “criminalising” Traveller and Roma communities and failing to include protections for women against violence. 

Writing in the Morning Star, Labour MP Diane Abbott echoed that the events from last week showed “protest works.” 

“There is no suggestion that this government has had a change of heart, it is simply retreating under pressure,” she said. “That is why it is vital to maintain the pressure.”

Protest opposing the Bill will continue this weekend, including a march in Cornwall by the Resist G7 coalition. The group said the threats posed by the Bill are so serious “we have no choice other than to take to the streets before it’s too late.”