The New Dark Age

We have three new blogs exploring the continued expansion of police powers and the growing lack of accountability for how those powers are used.

The Crime and Policing Act 2026 introduces new powers around face coverings and further restrictions on protest, extending an already extensive legislative framework.

Yet while protesters face increasing scrutiny, transparency around police decision-making remains elusive.

Our latest blogs cover:

• Our new explainer on the Crime and Policing Act 2026, which outlines the Act’s new powers around face coverings and protest restrictions and what they could mean for the future of protest rights.
• Accountability for protesters, but not for police? Examining the growing gap between expanding police powers and the erosion of meaningful mechanisms to hold police accountable.
• What does partial Met data say about protest restrictions in London? Analysing Section 12 and 14 data obtained through FOI requests, revealing huge gaps and incomplete reporting that make meaningful scrutiny near-impossible.

Protesters are being forced into visibility at the same moment police violence is becoming harder to scrutinise. Accountability increasingly operates as a framework for those challenging power and not those exercising it.

From new restrictive and pre-emptive powers, to the growing criminalisation of protesters, to missing data and barriers to scrutiny, these blogs examine how increased powers are being matched by declining transparency. Read them below.