MPs have raised serious concerns that the government's flagship domestic abuse bill could be lost as Boris Johnson suspends Parliament ahead of a Queen's Speech.



Politicians, campaigners, and survivors of domestic abuse have spent years working on proposals to protect victims, which were finally unveiled in the House of Commons last month in the last days of Theresa May's premiership.

The bill would ban the cross-examination of victims by their abusers in family courts, introduce "domestic abuse protection notices" to allow police to intervene earlier, and establish a domestic abuse commissioner to better hold the government to account.

It would also introduce the first-ever statutory government definition of domestic abuse to include economic abuse and controlling and manipulative nonphysical abuse.

But Labour MPs Jess Phillips and Sarah Champion, who have long campaigned on the issue, expressed fears that the legislation may not be brought back after the PM announced the Queen's Speech would be held on Oct. 14.

Johnson wants to introduce a "fresh domestic agenda" with a raft of new bills, but it is not yet confirmed whether the domestic abuse bill will form part of this.

Home secretary Priti Patel told charities and campaigners at a private meeting on Wednesday that she was committed to the plans — but MPs said she and Johnson must confirm this publicly, and warned that in the meantime victims were yet again were being forced to wait.

Champion, a former shadow minister for preventing abuse, said: "I am extremely concerned that Boris Johnson is forgetting the needs of domestic abuse survivors in his obsession to prorogue Parliament.

"The bill provides a rare opportunity for MPs to improve the support and protections offered to victims and survivors of domestic abuse. The bill was Theresa May's flagship project.

"It would be utterly immoral if Boris Johnson casts aside the safety of women in his rush to be seen as a new broom. The prime minister and home secretary must commit to carrying over the domestic abuse bill so that it can progress in the next parliamentary session.

"Anything less wastes years of cross-party working and will be a serious setback for victims safety and survivors trying to rebuild their lives."

In a letter to Johnson, Phillips said: "The legislation which you plan to ditch by closing Parliament down includes the domestic violence bill — is that one of the bills you refer to in your letter as just 'filling in time' in the Commons? I can tell you it won't feel that way to the women and families this law would have rescued."

