• Section 5 of the Public Order Act criminalised ‘insulting’ words and behaviour
• But it had not defined what the term meant, leading to an abuse of the law
• A move by Lord Dear, a former West Midlands chief constable, was backed by 150 votes to 54

By Gerri Peev

PUBLISHED: 19:20 EST, 13 December 2012 | UPDATED: 02:49 EST, 14 December 2012

Free speech campaigners have hailed a vote by the House of Lords to scrap a  draconian law that made it a crime simply to insult someone.

The controversial legislation led to countless arrests of ordinary people for making jokes and expressing opinions about  religion and sexuality.

An amendment to strike out the term ‘insult’ by Lord Dear, a crossbencher and former West Midlands chief constable, was backed by 150 votes to 54

Section 5 of the Public Order Act criminalised ‘insulting’ words and behaviour – without defining what the term meant.

Critics warned that over- zealous police and prosecutors  were abusing the law, leading to ludicrous scenarios such as the conviction of a teenager for saying ‘woof’ to two dogs.

An amendment to strike out the term ‘insult’ by Lord Dear, a crossbencher and former West Midlands chief constable, was backed by 150 votes to 54 late on Tuesday.

The move was backed despite the Government and Labour peers opposing the change.

Liberal Democrats banded with rebel lords from across the parties and crossbench peers to vote for the change. Lord Dear said: ‘We must never lose sight of our basic constitutional freedoms within the law which are so important in any civilised country.

‘That’s why the vote was so important in upholding and enhancing one of those basic freedoms.’

Simon Calvert, of The Christian Institute and campaign director for Reform Section 5, said: ‘We are delighted the House of Lords has voted to enhance free speech for everyone by reforming Section 5.