The UK government has announced plans to give police more powers to tackle “disruptive protests” such as those organised by climate activists, allowing officers to intervene before protests become highly disruptive.
The proposed move would give police greater clarity about dealing with demonstrators blocking roads or slow marching, a tactic that has often been used by groups such as Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain, and Just Stop Oil.
Under the proposed changes to the Public Order Bill, police would not need to wait for disruption to take place and could shut demonstrations down before they escalate.
Downing Street said police would not need to treat a series of protests by the same group as standalone incidents, but would be able to consider their total impact.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “The right to protest is a fundamental principle of our democracy, but this is not absolute. A balance must be struck between the rights of individuals and the rights of the hard-working majority to go about their day-to-day business.
Police Welcome Clarity
The proposed measures have been welcomed by senior police officers.Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: “It is clearly understood that everybody has the right to protest. Increasingly however police are getting drawn into complex legal arguments about the balance between that right to protest and the rights of others to go about their daily lives free from serious disruption. The lack of clarity in the legislation and the increasing complexity of the case law is making this more difficult and more contested.”
Rowley added: “It is for Parliament to decide the law, and, along with other police chiefs, I made the case for a clearer legal framework in relation to protest, obstruction, and public nuisance laws. We have not sought any new powers to curtail or constrain protest, but have asked for legal clarity about where the balance of rights should be struck.
“I welcome the government’s proposal to introduce a legal definition of ‘serious disruption’ and ‘reasonable excuse.’ In practical terms, Parliament providing such clarity will create a clearer line for the police to enforce when protests impact upon others who simply wish to go about their lawful business.”
Labour Opposes Law Change
The main opposition Labour Party has objected to the proposed law change, saying that police already have the powers they need to tackle disruptive climate protests.Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told LBC Radio, “I am as strong as anyone in the argument we need to take action against Just Stop Oil—gluing yourself to the road, taking those actions, stopping ambulances getting through—wrong, deeply arrogant, and I want the police to act.”
Commenting on the police’s call for more clarity, he said: “If I was prime minister … what I would do instead of more headline-grabbing legislation, I would get the chief constables into a room, sit them down with me, and say ‘right, what’s the problem?’
“Because I don’t accept that if you are walking at a funereal pace that that is not obstructing the highway and I think if police were told, in terms, ‘yes, that is an offence, get on and do something about it’ they could get on and do something about it tomorrow morning.”
He added “you can’t just legislate your way out of every problem” and he would get “the most senior lawyer we can, to give the strongest opinion and test it in court.”
“If we did that, we could actually take this action tomorrow instead of waiting for legislation to go through,” he said.
The government has also been criticised by some human rights groups such as Liberty.
Liberty Director Martha Spurrier said: “These new proposals should be seen for what they are: a desperate attempt to shut down any route for ordinary people to make their voices heard.
“Allowing the police to shut down protests before any disruption has taken place simply on the off-chance that it might, sets a dangerous precedent, not to mention making the job of officers policing protests much more complex.”
