Tuesday, 17 May 2022 — NetPol
Having successfully passed one piece of vague, draconian public order legislation, the government is already embarking on the introduction of another.
Tag: right to protest
EXPLAINER: what are the government’s latest proposals for punishing protesters?
5 October 2021 — NetPol
PHOTO: Insulate Britain
On Sunday at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Home Secretary Priti Patel announced the latest punitive proposals for new police powers in her ongoing vendetta against political and social movements the government refuses to engage with.
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Draconian new legislation set to shut down protest at Scottish Parliament ahead of COP26
22 September 2021 — NetPol
Campaigners have condemned controversial new legislation designed to shut down protests outside the Scottish parliament building in Edinburgh, warning new police powers will have a “chilling effect” on the right to protest. The timing of this new legislation – just months before COP26 arrives in Scotland – is significant.
Proposal for ‘Code for the Policing of Protest’ is Netpol’s Charter in all but name
1 July 2021 — NetPol
Protester at a Black Lives Matter protest in London in 2020. Photo: Shutterstock
An Inquiry report published today by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Democracy and the Constitution has endorsed the demand – by local and national organisations and tens of thousands of members of the public who have supported Netpol’s Charter for Freedom of Assembly Rights – for clear guidelines on the way protests are policing.
UK: Take Action This Weekend to Kill The Bill!
27 April 2021 — Medact
Last night over 130 people joined our urgent briefing exploring why we all have a duty to take action and Kill The Bill.
As a movement we must demand nothing less than a complete rejection of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. Our fantastic panel gave us crucial insights into the public health dangers of the Bill, outlining how the legislation:
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EXPLAINER: What does the new policing bill say about restricting protests?
13 April 2021 — NetPol
PHOTO: Splento
Since the confrontational crackdown by the Metropolitan Police on women holding a vigil for Sarah Everard at Clapham Common on 13 March, a growing movement has condemned police intolerance to the right to protest and warned this will only become worse with the passing of the government’s 307 page Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.
So what exactly does the bill propose?
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Know Your Rights: Fixed Penalty Notices and Protests
8 April 2021 — Netpol
One of the potential consequences for people taking part in protests against the government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, or other protests in the coming months, is receiving a fixed penalty notice (FPN) for allegedly breaching health protection regulations.
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Democracy: Is Political leafleting now banned as well?
19 March 2021 — True Publica
The election of Boris Johnson has ended up with the prime Minister using special Covid legislation to entrench power not seen since the times of Henry VIII. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is a stark warning to anyone who doubts that assertion. In the meantime, democracy is being slowly chipped away behind the scenes – and here is yet another (of an ever-growing list) example that only demonstrates this dreadful attack on our democratic principles and civil liberty.
Stop police crushing protests – take action now
18 March 2021 — NetPol
Campaigners are demanding the National Police Chief’s Council stops cracking down on the right to protest. Will you join us?
The decisions to arrest organisers at the #ReclaimTheStreets protests weren’t made by the Home Secretary – it was made by senior officers in the Metropolitan Police. It was the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), not the High Court, which told police forces last week that they could not waive lockdown guidance and must make arrests any #ReclaimTheStreets vigils.
Are you seriously annoying?
17 March 2021 — Global Justice Now
The UK government is rushing through new anti-protest laws which could ban protests that are too noisy or annoying – surely the definition of a good protest? The ridiculous and outrageous proposals would “make a dictator blush”, according to one MP, but last night Conservative MPs voted them through their first stage in parliament.
Can you sign this urgent petition to protect our right to protest?
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UK: Do we still want to have a right to protest in 2022?
17 March 2021 — Manifesto Club
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill must be stopped at all costs.
This Bill would in effect remove the right to protest. It would give police officers the power to ban or place restrictions of their choice upon public demonstrations.
Tens of thousands join the call to protect our #FreedomToProtest
15 March 2021 — NetPol
Over 100,000 people have now signed our petition opposing the government’s new Policing Bill and calling on the National Police Chiefs Council to adopt our Charter for Freedom of Assembly Rights, setting out how police should protect, not restrict, the right to protest.
Government announces new restrictions to the right to protest
9 March, 2021 — Netpol
Protester at a Black Lives Matter protest in London in 2020. Photo: Shutterstock
Please sign the petition rejecting the government’s new crackdown on freedom to protest.
The coronavirus pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on our ability to take to the streets. Now the Home Office is busy preparing, in readiness for when public health restrictions start to ease, to make sweeping changes to public order legislation that will give the police extra powers to restrict future protests.
UK: The government wants to silence dissent
10 March 2021 — Good Law Project
Other than at a General Election – an event occurring at five-yearly intervals that hands unconstrained power to a Party that wins a majority – a citizen has but one way of registering dissent at what is done in their name: the right to protest. Yesterday the Government announced its intention to legislate that right out of meaningful existence.
Democracy – “this is another attack on our ability to stand up to power”
10 December 2020 — True Publica
By TruePublica:
“New laws to curb protests which threaten democracy” is quite the phrase. We have a five-yearly democratic event which hands absolute power to the Government. In the years that follow, the right to protest is all there is of democracy. Be very afraid.”
These are the words of Joe Maugham QC – director of the Good Law Project, barrister and Honourary Professor at Durham Law School.
The New Dark Age 