National Security (State Threats) Bill: Allocation of Time motion

Parliament voted on 17 June 2026 to accept the government's timetable motion for the National Security (State Threats) Bill, passing by 233 votes to 94. The motion set out strict time limits for the bill's remaining stages, with Second Reading to conclude within four hours of the start of proceedings, and all remaining stages including Committee, Consideration, and Third Reading to finish within six hours. In effect, the entire legislative process for the bill was compressed into a single parliamentary sitting. The practical consequence is that a bill dealing with counter-espionage, state-sponsored threats, and transnational repression will pass through all its Commons stages with limited time for detailed scrutiny. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told the House that the director general of MI5 had reported a rise of more than a third in individuals under investigation for state threat activity, framing the bill as an urgent response to a deteriorating security environment. Critics of timetable motions argue that the tight schedule reduces the opportunity for MPs to probe the bill's detail, particularly where civil liberties are engaged. Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs provided all 233 votes in favour, with no Labour no votes recorded. Conservatives provided the bulk of the opposition, with 83 voting against and 33 with no vote recorded. The Greens, Democratic Unionist Party, Traditional Unionist Voice, Reform UK, and two independents also voted no. The vote sits within a cluster of divisions on the same bill on the same day, including several committee-stage amendments that the government won comfortably, suggesting the compressed timetable did not prevent the bill advancing through its stages.