A demonstration could be heard against plans to curb disruptive and noisy protesters while a controversial range of measures proposed by the government covering protests was defeated in the House of Lords. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill would give police powers to stop some protests - though the one heard during the discussions would not be stopped, according to Baroness Williams, the government’s Home Office minister in the Lords. The proposed legislation would also make it illegal for activists to lock themselves to things while also allowing police to stop and search people to prevent them joining illegal protests. The government says this huge piece of legislation came about after demonstrators blocked roads, stopped printing presses and glued themselves to trains. This reasoning aside, peers in the Lords were opposed to the plans and were up until the early hours voting against them.
They are "oppressive" and "plain nasty", according to Green Party peer Baroness Jones, who asked: "How do you seriously think a protest is going to happen without noise?" Labour called some of the plans "outrageous", with Lord Hain describing the move as "the biggest threat to the right to dissent and the right to protest in my lifetime". He claims it would have "throttled" protests by the suffragettes. However, Baroness Williams argued that the police would only use the powers where they deemed it "necessary" and "appropriate". There was another notable defeat for the government, which saw peers vote to make misogyny a hate crime in England and Wales. It had been added to the bill as an amendment against the government's wishes. The bill now goes back to the Commons and won’t become law until both Houses reach an agreement.

As the prime minister remains under pressure after details emerged over a drinks party held in Downing Street’s garden during lockdown, his former top aide has made some fresh claims about the gathering. Dominic Cummings says Boris Johnson was warned about holding a drinks party and that he had "waved aside" concerns relating to it. Mr Cummings, who has been critical of Mr Johnson since leaving No 10, revealed more details about the party on 20 May 2020 in his blog which, he claims, showed that "the PM lied to Parliament about parties". No 10 disputes that Mr Johnson was "warned about the event", saying it was "untrue", adding when he attended "he believed implicitly that this was a work event" and apologised in the Commons. An investigation into the party is under way.

With a huge backlog of court cases waiting to be heard, magistrates look set to be given greater sentencing powers to help clear it. The government’s planning to allow magistrates in England and Wales to sentence people up to a year, rather than six months. Any sentence above the current threshold is referred to a judge so the plan has the potential to prevent 500 cases going to crown court, according to the Ministry of Justice. This allows judges 2,000 extra days to handle more serious crimes, it says. Magistrates - who are volunteers with no legal experience - are said to be delighted, Labour has criticised the move and criminal lawyers have concerns. Read more here.

The prime minister's former top aide makes the headlines once again with his latest claims involving Downing Street's lockdown drinks. Dominic Cummings accuses Boris Johnson of lying to Parliament about the party, reports the Times. The Daily Mirror leads with what it describes as a "new bombshell claim" that the prime minister "gave the go-ahead" for the gathering. This story also appears in the Metro and the Guardian while the i focuses on the growing Tory angst at Mr Johnson’s leadership. Meanwhile, the energy crisis, tougher powers for magistrates, and British troops and hi-tech weapons being sent to Ukraine are among the other topics being covered on this morning’s front pages. Read the newspaper review in full here.

She’s starred in blockbuster movies and won two Oscars but there’s one role played by Cate Blanchett that we’ll never see. The Hollywood actress home-schooled her seven-year-old daughter during lockdown. But there was a catch - Blanchett had to dress up as Edith’s teacher, and stuffed animals attended some lessons. Here’s her story.
It’s rare for an understudy to step in to star in a show but the pandemic’s meant actors who dream of taking the limelight are getting the chance to do just that. One told us she knew it was possible but "didn't think it would actually happen". So, what’s it like getting that call and treading the boards? Find out here.
And with a shortage of people for various roles within the digital industry, our reporter Mary-Ann Russon decided to find out how easy it would be to learn code. She tried her hand at Python, which is often the first language taught to undergraduates on computer science courses. Take a look at what happened.

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