During a recent visit to Macclesfield by the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor, the Rt Hon David Gauke MP, local MP, David Rutley, pledged his continued support for the Assaults On Emergency Workers (Offences) Bill.
The Bill, which has cross-party support and is backed by the Government, would double the maximum sentence for common assault against an emergency worker to a year. David met with the Lord Chancellor to discuss these important provisions and the need to ensure that emergency workers, such as the police, ambulance staff and doctors and nurses, who face often dangerous situations on a regular basis, are more fully protected at work.
Strong local interest in how emergency workers could be better protected was prompted by a serious assault on a nurse at Macclesfield Hospital last year.
MPs backed the Assaults On Emergency Workers (Offences) Bill unanimously at its Second Reading last November. It will be returning to the House of Commons in April for its Report Stage and Third Reading. Once these stages are completed, the Bill will progress to the House of Lords, before receiving Royal Assent and becoming law.
David said, "I strongly support this Bill and it was good to hear the Lord Chancellor's positive assurances of the Government's continued backing for this much-needed legislation during his visit to Macclesfield. Assaults on workers in our emergency services are completely unacceptable. Emergency workers regularly put themselves in harm's way in the line of duty, and those who assault them should face more serious consequences.”