Free speech is at stake
THE Bill aims to toughen up the police response after Extinction Rebellion and Black Lives Matters protests were accused of disrupting public life.
Critics warn the measures are a disproportionate strike at free speech.
It will be illegal to inflict “serious annoyance” on a person without reasonable excuse, with up to 10 years’ jail.
Police will be able to impose start and finish times and maximum noise levels on protests in England and Wales if they fear they “may result in serious disruption to the activities of an organisation” nearby.
One-person protests also face a crackdown in a move dubbed the “Steve Bray” law, after the man who spent years shouting “Stop Brexit” at Parliament.
It will be up to the Home Secretary, now Priti Patel, to decide the definition of “serious disruption”. The Bill replaces the
“common law” definition of public nuisance with a clear set of words.
It will make it a crime to “intentionally or recklessly” cause public nuisance without a reasonable excuse. Offenders will face up to 10 years in jail in the worst cases.
But there is no clear list of “reasonable excuses” and police will
decide if somebody has caused “serious annoyance” to others.
The Bill also makes obstructing the road or using a loudspeaker at the gates of Parliament an offence that carries a fine of up to £5,000.
People in protest camps can be jailed for three months, the police given more powers to remove unauthorised camps on roadsides.
Critics say that threatens wild camping and Traveller communities.