Manifesto Club newsletter – Busybodies’ Charter – A Three-Year Review

27 September 2017 — Manifesto Club

Three-year review of PSPOs; Richmond’s ban on picking up pebbles; A campaigner’s guide to LGA guidance; Privacy of the home under threat, and more…

REPORT: ‘BUSYBODIES’ CHARTER’ – A THREE-YEAR REVIEW

A new Manifesto Club report gives a scary account of three years of Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) powers. We found that 189 new PSPOs have been passed in the past 16 months, meaning that nearly half of all UK authorities now have an order in place. These include: Sunderland’s ban on ‘bin raking’; Southampton’s ban on ‘loitering for the purpose of begging’; Bassetlaw’s ban on under-16s standing in groups of 3 or more; and Rushcliffe’s ban on sleeping in the open air. See the report here. The report was covered in media including The Times, Daily Mail, Telegraph, Press Association, Metro, and local media. See full media here. CAMPAIGNING LATEST:

LGA Guidance on PSPOs: Good news – new Local Government Association guidance warns councils against the over-use of PSPO powers. It could be very useful for campaigners seeking to oppose an order in their area. See our Campaigner’s Guide to the guidance.

Canterbury creates a crime of ‘not carrying two bags’: Canterbury resident and geographer Jack Lowe talks to dog owners horrified by Canterbury Council’s bizarre new crime. See his report here.

Richmond Council bans picking up pebbles: Richmond Council has created one of the longest and strangest PSPOs that we have seen, with no fewer than 35 clauses criminalising everything from rough sleeping to children using tricycles in the playground. See our post on the order.

Doncaster plans to ban ‘standing around’ in the town centre: This draft PSPO bans everything from busking to rough sleeping. See our post here.

PSPOs arrests and prosecutions: These orders are hitting some extremely hard, with thousand-pound fines for begging on the streets of Kettering, and Leicester Council saying that it will arrest beggars in the city centre.

Latest PSPO petitions!: See a round-up of the latest live petitions against PSPOs, from dog bans on Devon beaches to Doncaster’s ban on busking

Visiting Artists’ Campaign: ‘Outrage after children’s author denied visa’, The Bookseller

Notes On Freedom blog: We must barricade our homes against the state – on the state invasion into the privacy of the home.

Letter: Robbie Travers and university censorship – Manick Govinda co-signed a letter to the University of Edinburgh, after the university put a law student under investigation for mocking ISIS on social media.