The latest column from Jacob Rees Mogg MP : Looking ahead to what is due up in parliament

Jacob Rees Mogg MP writes:

As Leader of the House of Commons, one of my primary responsibilities is the Government's Legislative Programme. This means working alongside the Government Whips to ensure that Bills put forward by the Government pass successfully through Parliament, gain Royal Assent and become law. This can range from a straightforward exercise to an extremely challenging one, depending on the amount of support for a Bill and the size of the Government's majority.

Of the Bills currently in Parliament, it is the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which has attracted most correspondence from my constituents. There are many measures in this Bill that I hope almost all of my constituents would support, for instance the increase in sentences for assaults against emergency service workers and changes to sexual offences law to tackle abusive adults in positions of trust. However, the section on public protest has proved controversial, partly because of inaccurate portrayals of the Bill on social media. Fundamentally, the right to protest peacefully is an important part of freedom of speech and there is no intention in this Bill to stop people protesting or to limit their democratic rights. It is the extremely disruptive actions taken by groups such as Extinction Rebellion that the Bill aims to regulate.

Other Bills currently passing through Parliament include the Nationality and Borders Bill, which will implement the Government's New Plan for Immigration; the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Bill, which will repeal the failed Fixed-term Parliaments Act and the Building Safety Bill. In addition, Bills shortly to start their journey towards becoming law include the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill and the Elections Bill. You can find out more about these and all the other current Bills at https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/. There is certainly much to keep me busy throughout the coming months.