The regulations were subject to a protest by opponents in Parliament Square on 12 December 2014, organised by sex worker and Clacton by-election candidate Charlotte Rose, which included a mass demonstration of facesitting and singing of the Monty Python song "Sit on My Face".
In response to the controversy, Julian Huppert, the Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge, laid down an Early Day Motion seeking a debate to annul the regulations, which was signed by fellow Lib Dem MPs David Ward and John Leech, and independent MP Mike Hancock.