9 Jan 2014

Annoying bill defeated

6:57 pm on 9 January 2014

Plans by the British government to make it illegal to be annoying in public have been defeated in the upper house of parliament, the House of Lords.

A bill introduced by the government would have allowed the courts to impose an injunction on anyone threatening to engage in behaviour causing a nuisance.

However, members of the House of Lords who voted against it argued that it could be used to stifle legitimate protest, the BBC reports.