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A former police chief says the public should be “really concerned” about a new crackdown on protests, accusing the government of putting rights “fundamental to our democracy” at risk.
“It is the right to protest, the right to assemble, the right to have a voice is fundamental to our democracy and, in particular, to British democracy,” he said. Times Radio.
Before a vote in the Commons, Sir Peter accused the government of “introducing some really dubious definitions that the police are supposed to understand.”
“This weekend has demonstrated the crucial importance of the right to protest and you have to be very careful that more laws are rushed just because certain politicians did not like certain demonstrations in the summer,” he added.
Parliamentarians are set to pass the legislation tomorrow, despite the uproar caused by what civil liberties activists see as an attack on the right to protest and the Labor opposition.
It comes after Priti Patel attacked the “gruesome” Black Lives Matter demonstrations that swept the country last year, suggesting at one point that he did not support the protests at all.
The draft law on police, crime, sentencing and courts will expand the powers of the police to allow them to end protests that cause “serious discomfort” and create new penalties for people who cause “serious discomfort”.
Critics see it as a mechanism to put current Covid regulations, which the Home Secretary used to impose an outright ban on demonstrations, on a permanent basis.
“You may think that the events of the last few days have shown without a doubt that the police cannot be trusted to protect our rights to freedom of expression. Well, it’s about to get worse, ”said human rights attorney Adam Wagner.
The bill has been prompted by the tactics of Extinction Rebellion, which brought central London to a standstill and, last September, blocked major printing presses.
The ministers moved away from exploring whether Extinction Rebellion could be classified as an organized crime group, focusing on preventing it from causing a similar disruption.
But the attempt has sparked new controversy due to the gruesome scenes on Saturday night, when officers tried to close the vigil to mourn the murder of Sarah Everard.
Boris Johnson said he was “deeply concerned” by the scenes in which the police grabbed the women, forced them to the ground and took them away handcuffed.
She will chair a meeting of the government’s Crime and Justice Task Force on Monday to discuss ways to protect women and girls from violence, with Met chief Cressida Dick among those in attendance.
Ms Patel has asked the Chief Inspector of Police to carry out a review of “lessons learned” from police actions on the vigil, even as criticism of her new legislation grows.
