UK police bill that could end peaceful protests ‘would make a dictator blush’
- Britain’s government criticised as policing bill passes in parliament
- Police could get new powers to curtail noisy, disruptive demonstrations
Boris Johnson’s government was accused of inching towards authoritarian rule after the UK parliament voted for a bill that could end peaceful protests, even a one-person demonstration deemed too noisy.
In the debate leading up to the vote, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill was denounced by Labour MPs who drew on UK history to oppose the bill. It has also come under criticism from civil and human rights groups including Amnesty International. With the government presiding over an 80-seat majority, it easily passed on Tuesday.
“When the Suffragettes marched for the right to vote some of them broke the law to make their point just outside the House of Commons,” shadow justice minister David Lammy told the House of Commons, referring to the campaign for women’s voting rights.
“Does the secretary of state believe that those women who shouted noisily, should have been arrested too?” he said, turning to the Justice Minister Robert Buckland.
“The loose and lazy way this legislation is drafted would make a dictator blush,” said Gavin Robinson, an MP with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist party. “Protests will be noisy, protests will disrupt and no matter how offensive we may find the issue at their heart, the right to protest should be protected.”
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Under the terms of the bill, police in England and Wales would be able to impose time and noise restrictions on static protests, using powers they already have for marches. There is even a measure for one-person protests if “noise causes a significant impact on those in the vicinity or serious disruption to the running of an organisation”.
It would also give the Home Secretary Priti Patel powers to decide when police should step in to stop a protest she deems to be disruptive.
“The home secretary will have the power, through secondary legislation, to define and give examples of serious disruption to the life of the community,” said the UK government’s website.
“This populist government have swiftly developed a penchant for authoritarianism, born of their approach to getting the vast amount of Brexit legislation necessary through Parliament,” said Labour MP Maria Eagle. “They have got into the habit of writing framework bills with extensive Henry VIII powers, leaving vast scope for ministers to change primary legislation by personal fiat, without adequate parliamentary scrutiny.”
The bill’s passage also comes as the Metropolitan Police Service face criticism for heavy handed tactics at a demonstration at the weekend.
Police broke up the event and arrested four women, saying the gathering endangered public health. Police had refused to give permission for the vigil in advance because authorities said it violated restrictions on large gatherings imposed to control the spread of Covid-19.
Critics also say the draconian measures in the bill will damage the UK’s credibility in standing up to regimes that limit political protests.
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“The UK Government cannot with a straight face claim it is concerned about the criminalising of protest in Hong Kong, while it introduces a blunt and shoddy piece of legislation which would do the same at home,” tweeted Sam Goodman, senior policy adviser at Hong Kong Watch.
The bill also came under fire for giving police powers to evict gypsies and travellers who set up camp on public and private land, and while it mentioned statues numerous times, it failed to mention crimes against women once. Less than two per cent of allegations of rape reported to the police end in convictions in the UK.
As MPs debated the bill, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Houses of Parliament before marching through the West End of London shouting slogans like “Boris is a w*****” and “Kill the Bill”.
There were also protests in Manchester and Cambridge.
The new bill would also make it a specific offence to prevent vehicles from entering the Houses of Parliament and defacing public monuments could result in sentences of up to 10 years.
The proposed legislation will return to parliamentary committees for scrutiny where MPs will have a chance to amend the bill.
The opposition hopes to enlist the support of some rebel Tories. Writing on the Conservative Home website, ex-Tory MP and former attorney general Dominic Grieve and Conservative MP Steve Baker warned the proposed legislation “may create uncertainty by giving far too much discretion to the police” in deciding what is a protest and what is disruption “and far too much power to the executive to change the law by decree if it chooses”.
Additional reporting by Associated Press
