Police forces across England and Wales have been granted sweeping new powers to impose conditions on repeat protests, with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announcing the changes will allow communities to “go about their daily business without feeling intimidated”.
The new measures, announced on Sunday morning, will allow senior officers to consider the “cumulative impact” of previous protest activity when deciding whether to impose restrictions on demonstrations. The changes follow the arrest of nearly 500 people during protests in support of the proscribed group Palestine Action in central London on Saturday.
Ms Mahmood told Sky News‘ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that it has been clear to her in conversations in the last couple of days that there is a gap in the law and there is an inconsistency of practice. She added she will be taking measures immediately to put that right and will be reviewing wider protest legislation as well, to make sure the arrangements in place can meet the scale of the challenge faced.
How the New Powers Will Work
The Government will amend Sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 to explicitly allow police to take account of the cumulative impact of frequent protests on local areas in order to impose conditions on public processions and assemblies.
If a protest has taken place at the same site for weeks on end and caused repeated disorder, police will have the authority to, for example, instruct organisers to hold the event somewhere else. The limits that could be imposed include moving demonstrators to a different place or restricting the time that those protests can occur, Ms Mahmood said.
Anyone who breaches the new conditions will risk arrest and prosecution. The changes will be brought forward as soon as possible, according to the Home Office.
The Home Secretary will also review existing legislation to ensure that powers are sufficient and being consistently applied by police forces. This will include powers to ban protests outright.
Context: Saturday’s Arrests and Manchester Attack
The announcement comes after protesters defied calls to rethink demonstrations on Saturday in the wake of the Manchester synagogue terror attack on Thursday, in which two Jewish worshippers were killed at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester.
Most of those arrested at Saturday’s protests were held on suspicion of supporting the proscribed group Palestine Action. Organisers Defend Our Juries said around 1,000 took part in demonstrations around Trafalgar Square against the ban on the group and opposing Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Hundreds of people have been arrested since the group was outlawed by former Home Secretary Yvette Cooper in the summer, predominantly for holding signs saying they support Palestine Action.
Balancing Rights and Safety
Ms Mahmood said the right to protest was a “fundamental freedom” but this must be balanced “with the freedom of their neighbours to live their lives without fear.
In a statement, she said large, repeated protests can leave sections of the country, particularly religious communities, feeling unsafe, intimidated and scared to leave their homes. This has been particularly evident in relation to the considerable fear within the Jewish community, which has been expressed to her on many occasions in these recent difficult days.
She added that these changes mark an important step in ensuring the Government protects the right to protest whilst ensuring all feel safe in this country.
Asked about the protests, Ms Mahmood said that just because you have a freedom doesn’t mean to say you have to use it at every moment of every day, adding those people could have just waited a day or two and given people the chance to grieve and process what has happened.
Political Reactions
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said her party will “of course support” the new measures but questioned why it took “so long” for them to be introduced.
Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, she claimed that what happened in Manchester was foreseeable and not enough has been done to address fears over safety in the Jewish community.
However, the Greens and Liberal Democrats condemned the measures as an attack on the right to peaceful protest.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski told Sky News that giving police sweeping powers to shut down protests because of their “cumulative impact” is a cynical assault on the right to dissent. He added that the whole point of protest is persistence and that’s how change happens, asking if people think the suffragettes protested once and then gave up.
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Max Wilkinson said the measures will “do nothing” to tackle antisemitism “while undermining the fundamental right to peaceful protest”. He added that people spreading antisemitic hate and inciting violence against Jews are getting away with it, and he fears the Government’s approach will do nothing to tackle that while undermining the fundamental right to peaceful protest.
Liberty’s director Akiko Hart said the police already have immense powers to restrict protests, adding that handing them even more would undermine rights further whilst failing to keep people safe from violence like the horrific and heart-breaking antisemitic attack in Manchester.
Jewish Community Response
The Board of Deputies of British Jews welcomed the Government’s decision to move ahead on giving police new powers around “cumulative impact” in response to what they described as deeply irresponsible and offensive protests in recent days following the terrorist attack at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation.
The organisation said they have been calling for this for many months, and it was one of their key asks in a meeting with the Prime Minister and Home Secretary on Friday. They added they will work with the Government to ensure that these and other measures are as effective as possible in protecting their community.
Government Actions
Ms Mahmood will write to chief constables on Sunday, thanking them for their swift and professional response following Thursday’s attack and at protests across the country. She will encourage them to use the full range of powers available to them to prevent and respond to public disorder.
Local Government Secretary Steve Reed has written to councils encouraging them to use their existing resources and powers to ensure Jewish communities are protected in the coming days and weeks, including limiting protest activity as much as possible.
All police forces in England and Wales are working with the Community Security Trust charity to offer additional support to the 538 different synagogues and Jewish community sites across the country.
Addressing Community Concerns
Ms Mahmood addressed the Jewish communities’ concerns after being shown a clip of Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy being heckled at a vigil on Friday.
She told Sky News’ Trevor Phillips the Government “of course” hears their strength of feeling and is “committed to dealing with antisemitism in all of its forms”, pointing to the “strengthening” of police powers announced on Sunday.
Asked if the reaction to Mr Lammy reflected anger at the Government’s decision to recognise a Palestine state, she said it was important not to “elide” Thursday’s attack with the situation in the Middle East.
She said people are entitled to their views and of course the Government was there to hear those views, adding that the attack that took place was the responsibility of the attacker himself. Four other people are in custody and the police investigation needs to take its course, she emphasised.
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Image Credit:
Palestine Action protest, London — photo by Steve Eason, licensed under CC BY 2.0
