Serious concerns about the worrying Police Bill

THROUGHOUT history many brave people have taken a stand to highlight injustice and serious issues such as slavery, Naziism, votes for women, climate change, George Floyd’s death, police brutality and institutional racism.

Other issues include the CND women’s camp, fracking, HS2 and Heathrow’s third runway.

Many protests have cost people their lives and we have to be careful to maintain our freedom.

Even now people worldwide languish in prison for simply daring to speak out about something.

In the UK we live in a free society.

The freedom to protest is a precious and essential right, but we have to keep up our guard. The danger is subtle. We may hardly notice the chipping away until it’s too late.

We are being told “protest quietly”. “Not too many people.” “Not one person causing a disturbance.”

There will often be a few extreme people who go too far, or others who provoke trouble for other reasons or because they like a good fight.

However, none of that should be allowed to be used to erode our freedoms.

I have been on several demonstrations in London.

All were entirely peaceful.

Some streets were closed.

It was good-natured, noisy, had many placards which were funny, poignant, rude and hard hitting.

One went on for hours because there were so many people.

There were 100,000 on one protest, but the police were there to allow us to protest peacefully.

Under the proposed new rules this wouldn’t be allowed and huge fines or an imprisonment could be the result. Is this what we want?

The things that can be considered arrestable are vague and can be used to close down protest.

“A person commits an offence if they obstruct the public, or a section of the public, in the exercise or enjoyment of a right that may be exercised or enjoyed by the public at large.

It may be the person or group is ‘suffering serious annoyance, serious inconvenience’.”

The punishment can be ‘not exceeding 12 months in prison, a fine or both’. On conviction on indictment, to a fine or prison, a much more serious sentence.

This is a dangerous turn in the wrong direction.

You may, or may not, agree with the causes cited above, but we should all defend the freedom to protest in an effective way.

News from around the world will show where curtailing our rights can lead. JACKIE PAYNTER

Bartlemy Road

Newbury