Soap boxes banned at Speakers’ Corner

POLICE have banned ladders, platforms and soap boxes at Speakers’ Corner over health and safety fears.

Officers reportedly stopped seven speakers from standing on platforms at the famous venue in Hyde Park in central London recently.

A new policy has given them the power to do so if they decide the crowd is too big and may put the speaker in danger, according to the Metropolitan Police.

But the move has sparked a backlash on social media, with a campaign set up urging the force to reconsider its decision.

Peter Bradley, director of Speakers’ Corner Trust, said: ‘The world over, people understand what Speakers’ Corner means. It represents the rights of citizens and politicians, and police meddle at their peril. If you’ve been there recently, I doubt you’ll have been too impressed by the topics or the quality of debate, but that is not the point.

‘At a time when we are concerned about our security and the threat from terrorists, we have to keep in the forefront of our minds the rights we are seeking to protect.’

For 150 years, Speakers’ Corner has provided a safe space for people from Karl Marx to the suffragettes to debate and express their views.

Many use a platform – including chairs, ladders and soap boxes – to address large crowds so they can be seen and heard more easily.

A Met Police spokesman said: ‘Police continue to support openair public speaking, debate and discussion at Speakers’ Corner.’