New Tory law would see protests shut down before they even HAPPEN
Adam Robertson
Mon, 16 January 2023
The UK Government is seeking new powers to clamp down on protests (Image: PA)
THE UK Government is set to announce a range of new proposals to clamp down on protests, broadening the range of situations in which police can take action to prevent disruption.
Major protests in recent years have focused on a range of issues, including environmental issues.
In November, for example, Just Stop Oil protesters blocked the M25 with supporters climbing onto overhead gantries.
The law would only apply south of the Border although many Scots often travel to take part in demonstrations.
READ MORE: Tories bid to repeat FOI tribunal battle over secret Union polling
The Government passed legislation in 2022 in a bid to allow police to have more power to stop disturbance but is planning to go further with a new set of laws known as the Public Order Bill.
The bill was published last year and is currently in the final stages of debate in parliament.
Criticism has come from civil rights groups who believe it is anti-democratic and gives the police too much power.
The UK Government wants to amend the Public Order Bill before it becomes law in order to broaden the legal definition of “serious disruption”, give police more flexibility and provide legal clarity on when the new powers could be used.
Sunak said in a statement on Sunday: “The right to protest is a fundamental principle of our democracy, but this is not absolute.
“We cannot have protests conducted by a small minority disrupting the lives of the ordinary public.
“It’s not acceptable and we’re going to bring it to an end.”
The Government says that the new laws, if passed, would mean police are able to shut down disruptive protests pre-emptively.
The bill already includes the creation of a criminal offence for anyone who seeks to lock themselves onto objects or buildings, and allows courts to restrict the freedoms of some protesters to prevent them causing serious disruption.
It builds on the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, passed in April 2022, which sparked several large “kill the bill” protests.
New Law Gives Police Powers To Treat Protests Like 'Terrorism' – Shami Chakrabarti
Sophia Sleigh
Mon, 16 January 2023
Shami Chakrabarti [R] and a climate protest in London [L].
Shami Chakrabarti today warned that a bill designed to crack down on eco-protesters means all peaceful dissent could be treated as “effectively terrorism”.
The Labour peer said the “draconian” Public Order Bill essentially gives the police a “blank cheque” in how they deal with protesters.
Under the new bill, police could be allowed to intervene before protests become highly disruptive, the government has confirmed.
An amendment to the bill, due to be introduced on Monday, will aim to give police greater clarity about when they can intervene to stop demonstrators blocking roads or slow marching.
Police guard activists sitting with their hands glued to the road and holding Insulate Britain banners in Parliament Square.
Police guard activists sitting with their hands glued to the road and holding Insulate Britain banners in Parliament Square.
Baroness Chakrabarti, a former shadow attorney general and ex-director of civil rights group Liberty, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This is a very draconian bill, it is a blank cheque of police powers at a time when there are considerable concerns about public trust in the police.
“The police already have adequate powers to arrest people and move them on when they are obstructing the highway.
“This, I fear, is treating all peaceful dissent as effectively terrorism and this bill looks very similar to anti-terror legislation we’ve seen in the past.
“This degree of pre-emption will basically shut down what isn’t even causing disruption at all because their definition will set such a low bar.”
The bill is aimed at curbing the guerrilla tactics used by groups like Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion.
The proposals, backed by Rishi Sunak, come after police chiefs claimed there is uncertainty over what can be currently classed as “serious disruption” under existing law.
Police officers attempt to stop an activist as they put up a banner reading
Police officers attempt to stop an activist as they put up a banner reading "Just Stop Oil" atop an electronic traffic sign along M25.
According to Downing Street, under the proposed changes, police would not need to wait for disruption to take place and could shut demonstrations down before they escalate.
Human rights group Liberty said the plan amounted to an attack on the right to protest.
Director Martha Spurrier said: “These new proposals should be seen for what they are: a desperate attempt to shut down any route for ordinary people to make their voices heard.
“Allowing the police to shut down protests before any disruption has taken place simply on the off-chance that it might sets a dangerous precedent, not to mention making the job of officers policing protests much more complex.”
No.10 said police would not need to treat a series of protests by the same group as standalone incidents, but would be able to consider their total impact.
Officers would also be able to take into consideration long-running campaigns designed to cause repeat disruption over a period of days or weeks.
Sunak said: “The right to protest is a fundamental principle of our democracy, but this is not absolute.
Climate activists from Extinction Rebellion drop a huge banner reading 'April 21st Unite To Survive' from Westminster Bridge on 11 January 2023.
Climate activists from Extinction Rebellion drop a huge banner reading 'April 21st Unite To Survive' from Westminster Bridge on 11 January 2023.
“A balance must be struck between the rights of individuals and the rights of the hard-working majority to go about their day-to-day business.”
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley also backed the proposals, adding: “The lack of clarity in the legislation and the increasing complexity of the case law is making this more difficult and more contested.”
The Public Order Bill is considered a successor to the controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act passed last year, which was criticised for introducing curbs on the right to protest.
The Bill is currently undergoing line-by-line scrutiny in the House of Lords, which will be tasked with debating the amendment.
New measures to silence climate activists? They’ll only spur us on
Indigo Rumbelow
THE GUARDIAN
Mon, 16 January 2023
On a day when swans were seen swimming through Worcester town centre after the latest flooding, the government has announced new measures to silence those of us pushing for more climate action.
The latest restriction on your freedoms involve the police in England and Wales having the power to shut down protests before disruption begins. The proposals will be part of an amendment to the public order bill, which already includes new stop and search powers and creates an offence of “locking on” to things.
So far the government has gone out of its way to characterise nonviolent civil resistance and peaceful protest as dangerous and criminal. But we are teachers, nurses, students, parents and grandparents. We act out of care, love and compassion. Now the government is going even further. Alongside the proposed restrictions on workers’ rights to strike, this is a sinister and authoritarian move from cowardly leaders who would prefer to lock us up than grant us all the right to live.
The supporters of Just Stop Oil are many different things but what they have in common is a deep concern for the future of humanity and a firm commitment to the principles of nonviolent civil resistance.
Resistance is necessary because politics is broken. Our democracy is dead on its feet. All avenues for legitimate protest are being closed, one by one. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act has effectively banned noisy protests. The public order bill bans “slow marching”. How are we to express our dissent? With new electoral laws on the requirement of voter ID discriminating against young people, how can those who will face the brunt of climate breakdown have a voice?
The police already have adequate powers to arrest people for obstructing the highway. Blocking roads is already illegal. The proposed powers will give them carte blanche whenever a political demonstration is happening nearby. Standing holding your D-lock about to lock up your bicycle, while being young or black? We know where that might end.
Related: Police to get new powers to shut down protests before disruption begins
The recent reports about how the US oil company Exxon “privately ‘predicted global warming correctly and skilfully’ only to then spend decades publicly rubbishing such science” shows how, for decades, the cards have been stacked against those of us on humanity’s side. How can we expect justice and honesty from a government that is continuing to offer new oil licences?
We can’t expect reason or sanity either. These new legal powers will simply speed up the slow collapse of the justice system. Fair Trials reports that the number of people being held in prison on remand in England and Wales is at its highest for more than 50 years, with 1,800 people being held without trial for at least a year. As I write, 10 Just Stop Oil supporters remain on remand.
Just Stop Oil is not a fashionable cause or a protest movement. Our supporters are doing what the suffragettes did and what the civil rights movements did. It’s what everyone does when the inalienable right to life and a livelihood are violated: they engage in direct action. It is an act of self-respect, an act of solidarity, an act of necessity.
It matters little what changes legislators make to the laws on peaceful protest or how strongly the police enforce those laws. Just Stop Oil supporters understand that this is irrelevant when set against the future that runaway climate breakdown entails.
The government can arrest, fine or incarcerate ordinary people for making their voices heard, or it can take meaningful steps to protect the people of this country by stopping the development of new sources of oil and gas, insulating people’s homes and defending the NHS.
This latest clampdown is not going to deter us: if anything, it’ll have the opposite effect. We call on everyone to step up and do whatever is nonviolently possible to resist new fossil fuel exploitation in the UK – and the government’s slide into authoritarianism.
Indigo Rumbelow is a supporter of Just Stop Oil and co-founder of Insulate Britain
Mon, 16 January 2023
On a day when swans were seen swimming through Worcester town centre after the latest flooding, the government has announced new measures to silence those of us pushing for more climate action.
The latest restriction on your freedoms involve the police in England and Wales having the power to shut down protests before disruption begins. The proposals will be part of an amendment to the public order bill, which already includes new stop and search powers and creates an offence of “locking on” to things.
So far the government has gone out of its way to characterise nonviolent civil resistance and peaceful protest as dangerous and criminal. But we are teachers, nurses, students, parents and grandparents. We act out of care, love and compassion. Now the government is going even further. Alongside the proposed restrictions on workers’ rights to strike, this is a sinister and authoritarian move from cowardly leaders who would prefer to lock us up than grant us all the right to live.
The supporters of Just Stop Oil are many different things but what they have in common is a deep concern for the future of humanity and a firm commitment to the principles of nonviolent civil resistance.
Resistance is necessary because politics is broken. Our democracy is dead on its feet. All avenues for legitimate protest are being closed, one by one. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act has effectively banned noisy protests. The public order bill bans “slow marching”. How are we to express our dissent? With new electoral laws on the requirement of voter ID discriminating against young people, how can those who will face the brunt of climate breakdown have a voice?
The police already have adequate powers to arrest people for obstructing the highway. Blocking roads is already illegal. The proposed powers will give them carte blanche whenever a political demonstration is happening nearby. Standing holding your D-lock about to lock up your bicycle, while being young or black? We know where that might end.
Related: Police to get new powers to shut down protests before disruption begins
The recent reports about how the US oil company Exxon “privately ‘predicted global warming correctly and skilfully’ only to then spend decades publicly rubbishing such science” shows how, for decades, the cards have been stacked against those of us on humanity’s side. How can we expect justice and honesty from a government that is continuing to offer new oil licences?
We can’t expect reason or sanity either. These new legal powers will simply speed up the slow collapse of the justice system. Fair Trials reports that the number of people being held in prison on remand in England and Wales is at its highest for more than 50 years, with 1,800 people being held without trial for at least a year. As I write, 10 Just Stop Oil supporters remain on remand.
Just Stop Oil is not a fashionable cause or a protest movement. Our supporters are doing what the suffragettes did and what the civil rights movements did. It’s what everyone does when the inalienable right to life and a livelihood are violated: they engage in direct action. It is an act of self-respect, an act of solidarity, an act of necessity.
It matters little what changes legislators make to the laws on peaceful protest or how strongly the police enforce those laws. Just Stop Oil supporters understand that this is irrelevant when set against the future that runaway climate breakdown entails.
The government can arrest, fine or incarcerate ordinary people for making their voices heard, or it can take meaningful steps to protect the people of this country by stopping the development of new sources of oil and gas, insulating people’s homes and defending the NHS.
This latest clampdown is not going to deter us: if anything, it’ll have the opposite effect. We call on everyone to step up and do whatever is nonviolently possible to resist new fossil fuel exploitation in the UK – and the government’s slide into authoritarianism.
Indigo Rumbelow is a supporter of Just Stop Oil and co-founder of Insulate Britain
No comments:
Post a Comment