Police in England and Wales will have the power to stop protesters who cause “serious disruption to the life of the community,” as new regulations come into effect.
The House of Lords approved amended sections of the Public Order Act 1986 on Tuesday, which provide greater clarity on when police can intervene to stop protesters.
Politicians have agreed to define “serious disruption” as “prevention of, or a hindrance that is more than minor to, the carrying out of day-to-day activities (including in particular the making of a journey).”
This is in contrast to the previous definition, which described “serious disruption” as a “significant delay” to the supply of a time-sensitive product to consumers, or “prolonged disruption” to access to essential services.
In addition to lowering the threshold for what type of activity is considered serious disruption, the regulations will also allow the police to consider “any relevant cumulative disruption” of processions and assemblies in the same area but at different times.
This comes amid ongoing discord between Whitehall and Just Stop Oil activists, who protest against new licenses for gas, oil, and coal projects.
Some of the protest tactics used by Just Stop Oil and other groups such as Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain include slow-walking and marching on roads, which can now be deemed a “serious disruption” by the police.
The government, in favour of the regulations, argue they improve clarity and deal with legal technicalities, which have prevented the police from using them before.
The new measures would improve public safety, along with saving time for police officers, the Home Office added.
Ahead of the vote in the House of Lords, Home Secretary Suella Braverman called on MPs to “back this law, back the police, and back the public,” adding on Twitter that the “law-abiding majority are fed up with the havoc & disruption.”
Just Stop Oil hit out at the new legislation, criticizing the politicians who “we cannot rely on.” The group criticised the Labour Party for failing to stop the approval of the new regulations and back a motion by Baroness Jones, a Green peer.
“Last night, Labour peers in the House of Lords refused to back Baroness Jenny Jones’s motion to end the Government’s draconian attack on the right to protest,” the group said on Twitter.
The baroness’s “fatal” motion called for disapproval of the new regulations, given they’d been already rejected by Parliament during consideration of the primary legislation. Labour tabled their own “regret motion,” proposed by Lord Coaker, which criticised the new regulations but didn’t block them.
The Green Party said on Twitter that Labour lords chose to side with the Tories “and allow an unprecedented attack on democracy and peaceful protest.”
“Labour and the Conservatives are two sides of the same coin when it comes to our civil liberties and democracy,” the Greens added.
The new police powers come into effect on Thursday, said Braverman.
“The public are sick of Just Stop Oil’s tactics, preventing the law-abiding majority from going about their lives & our police from fighting crime. From tomorrow, the police have the reassurance to act quickly to halt slow marchers,” she posted.
The Public Order Act 2023, passed in May, gave police officers the powers to stop and search protesters and seize objects such as lock-on devices. Granting new powers to officers came under criticism, as six coronation protesters were arrested and then released by the police.
