New bill to give police more powers to quash protests

The UK government has today outlined plans to give police new powers which would include the ability to shut down protests before they cause disruption.

The plans are said to be introduced to help officers with a disruptive minority of protesters who have begun using heavily disruptive protesting tactics such as roadblocks and slow marches.

The changes seek to give police more clarity and more stability on when they can and cannot to intervene during disruptive protests.

The plans will set out as an amendment to the public order bill and are due to be introduced next week. The aim is to help prevent groups like Just Stop Oil, Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion from causing major disruptions across the UK as these groups ramp up their protests.

However, some opposition and human rights groups have hit out at the plans saying that the police already have an adequate amount of power in this area and that the new bill is an attack on the right to protest.

Human rights group Liberty have come out and said that the new bill is “a clear attack on the right to protest.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the tactics of activist groups such as Just Stop Oil are wrong and “deeply arrogant”, but the police already have enough power to take effective action against such protests.

Head of human rights group Liberty, Martha Spurrier said the new proposals are “a desperate attempt to shut down any route for ordinary people to have their voices heard.”

She also said that the plans to allow police to be able to shut down protests before any disruption has taken place “sets a dangerous precedent”.

The Just Stop Oil activist group have said the plans are “a sinister and authoritarian attempt to undermine the basic human rights that underpin our democracy.”

The new proposals are to build on the current Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts act that was passed last year under heavy scrutiny and criticism as this was labelled an attack on democracy at the time.

Under the current legislation the police must prove the protest may result in “serious public disorder, serious damage to property or serious disruption to the life of the community.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak defending his new bill saying, “a balance must be struck between the rights of individuals and the rights of the hard-working majority to go about their day-to-day business.”