Wearing masks, climbing monuments, carrying flares or blocking roads could be made illegal under plans to change the law.
Changes to the Criminal Justice Bill are being considered in Parliament which, if passed, would mean police could arrest protesters who ignore their orders.
The new rules would mean that the ‘right to protest’ would “no longer be an excuse for certain public order offences,” according to the Home Office.
Many campaigners have said that the measures threaten people’s right to protest.
It’s thought that the rules are being brought in as a result of the large scale protests relating to the Israel/Hamas war that have taken place across London in recent months.
Failure to remove a facemask when asked by a police officer could result in a month in prison under the new offence.
Protesters scaling monuments, such as war memorials, could face up to three months in jail.
Those using pyrotechnics during a protest would be subject to a £1000 fine. The Home Office recently said that police officers have a “significant risk of injury” when fireworks were fired at them.
In October, City News asked MP Caroline Lucas what she thought the role of disruptive protest was (video above).
She now has spoken out against the new proposed changes, calling them an expansion of the Government’s “anti-democratic crackdown”.
Not content with the raft of Orwellian laws it’s already enacted, the Government is now expanding its anti-democratic crackdown to further attack the right to peaceful protest. This is a Government hellbent on the erosion of our most fundamental civil liberties.
— Caroline Lucas (@CarolineLucas) February 8, 2024
James Cleverly, the Home Secretary said that:
“Recent protests have seen a small minority dedicated to causing damage and intimidating the law-abiding majority”.
“The right to protest is paramount in our county, but taking flares to marches to cause damage and disruption is not protest, it is dangerous.”
“That is why we are giving police the powers to prevent any of this criminality on our streets.”
The proposed changes to the law will be added as amendments when the Criminal Justice Bill reaches report stage in the House of Commons.
Have you faced legal restrictions when protesting, how would these proposals impact you? Contact us by email via [email protected] or tag us on X @CityLondonNews
