Big Brother Watch:
Quote:
Campaigners and people who want to attend a protest need not have ever committed any offence in order to be given a so-called “protest banning order” by the police.
Under this new anti-protest law, the police will be given powers to monitor campaigners using electronic GPS tags, restrict their internet activities and prevent them from attending protests. These are some of the most disturbing and anti-democratic police powers introduced in the UK for decades.
Are any reasons given? Has anyone in parliament raised objections to this bill?
Yes, it’s becoming a police state. And the U.S. is also moving in that direction (in many ways it’s already there). Boris is another traitor, like so many the left has used to subvert both Brexit and MAGA.
The opposition seems to be coming mainly from the left/green lot as far as I can tell, the bill does seem to be initially targeted at the disruptive protests of groups like “Insulate Britain” who have obstructed traffic and superglued themselves to tarmac etc. Many could not understand why the police didn’t arrest them under existing public order legislation though, so again I think we have to ask what is the real agenda behind these measures, and who will they actually be used against in practice.
“‘Criminalising our right to protest’: green groups’ anger over public order bill”
Big Brother Watch is chaired by a Liberal Democrat peer Lord Paul Strasburger.
What a muddle of principles! The parties seem all to have lost the plot.
“Extinction Rebellion” seems to be a main target of the bill. They beg for suppression - but should not be suppressed.
Yes, they could, and should have been arrested under existing legislation.
On what charge could they be arrested? Under what existing law?
A clearly mentally unbalanced individual was imprisoned for 3 + years for simply standing in the road:
Clearly they do already have laws they can use to deal with people who block the traffic.
I would think under “obstructing traffic” or “disturbing the peace”, or something similar.
Yes, all he had to do was carry a leftist protest sign, and he would have gotten off.
Yes. Or a placard reading “Allahu Akbar”.