By new government plans to be presented on Monday, police personnel would no longer need to wait for protests to occur before dispersing them and will be free to target ongoing activities.
Rishi Sunak supports ideas to expand police authority to combat “very disruptive and deadly protests.”
The government will commit on Monday to revise the already problematic Public Order Bill to “extend the legal meaning of significant disruption.”
According to a statement from Number 10, it will provide authorities “greater flexibility and clarity on when to interfere to prevent the disruptive minority who deploy methods like blocking roads and slow marching to inflict suffering on the people.”
The change would permit forces to end protests before any disturbance. Assess the cumulative impact of a succession of protests rather than the impact of individual occurrences. And target long-term campaigns.
Mr. Sunak stated he was responding to a request from police commanders “for more clarity to crack down on these guerilla tactics,” adding, “The right to demonstrate is a key tenet of our democracy, but it is not absolute”.
It is necessary to strike a balance between the rights of individuals. And the rights of the hardworking majority to conduct their daily affairs.
“We cannot allow a small minority’s protests to impair the life of the general people. This is unacceptable, and we will put an end to it.”
Prime minister supports crackdown on “disruptive” protests.
The proposal was applauded by police authorities, including the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley, who stated, “Parliament establishing such clarity will provide a clearer boundary for the police to enforce when protesters interfere with others who just desire to conduct their business.”
However, it is unlikely to be welcomed by activist groups such as Just Stop Oil and Insulate Britain. Which has frequently blocked highways to convey their message. Or the House of Lords, which fought to prevent the original measure from becoming law.
However, it follows the announcement by the climate change protest organization Extinction Rebellion that it would “temporarily pivot away from public disruption” as a strategy to promote its cause.
The group admitted that “very nothing has changed” as a result of the strategies used over the previous four years. And declared that it wished to become more inclusive by focusing on global concerns. As opposed to alienating people with stunts and direct action.
The police already have the power to deal with dangerous and disruptive protests, according to Sarah Jones. The shadow minister for policing for Labour.
She said, “However, the prime minister has spent more time discussing protests than the epidemic of violence. Against women and girls or his government’s poor criminal prosecution record.”
“If he’s going to do the home secretary’s job for her. The victims who have been neglected by his administration would welcome the same consideration.”
