🔗 Share this article

Ministers are set to provide police new powers to address ongoing protests, specifically aimed on cracking down against Middle East demonstrations, as stated by the Interior Ministry.

Latest Detentions and Proposed Changes

This announcement follows the morning after almost five hundred people were arrested in London for showing solidarity for a proscribed group, a banned organization. These changes could enable police to instruct frequent protests to be moved to different locations.

The Home Secretary, will also examine all legislation regarding demonstrations, with the potential to strengthen authorities to prohibit some protests completely.

Proposed Legislative Changes

As part of these measures, the Home Secretary will implement swift changes to the Public Order Act 1986, allowing law enforcement to take into account the "combined effect" of ongoing protests. Further information will be released "in due course", as per the announcement.

If a protest has resulted in what officials termed "ongoing disruption" at the identical location for multiple weeks, authorities would have the power to order protest leaders to move the event elsewhere, with participants who fail to comply risking detention.

Broader Examination and Public Security

Mahmood stated that she would "examine current laws to ensure that authorities are sufficient and being consistently applied", covering law enforcement authorities to prohibit certain protests completely.

"The right to protest is a fundamental freedom in our nation. However, this freedom must be balanced with the right of other citizens to live their lives without fear," the Home Secretary said.

"Frequent, sizable demonstrations can cause sections of our country, particularly religious communities, feeling unsafe, intimidated and fearful of going out. This has been particularly evident in relation to the considerable fear within the Jewish community, which has been communicated with me on many occasions during these recent difficult days."

"These measures mark an important step in ensuring we safeguard the right to protest while making certain everyone feel secure in this nation."

Recent Context and Police Reaction

These expanded authorities seem targeting both large-scale pro-Gaza protests, which took place in London and various urban centers over a series of weeks, and those organized to back the proscribed organization.

On Saturday, police detained approximately 500 individuals at the most recent similar demonstration. The event took place despite ministers, including political leaders, asking that it be delayed following the recent deadly attack on a Jewish place of worship in Manchester.

Law Enforcement Viewpoint

After Saturday's protest, the leader of the police representative body commented that police personnel policing demonstrations in London were "emotionally and physically exhausted".

"This cannot continue. Our focus should be on ensuring public safety at a period when the country is on heightened alert from a terrorist attack. And instead officers are being pulled away to manage these relentless protests," the federation chair said.

Additional Legislative Measures

These changes come after demonstration-focused provisions in the public safety legislation currently under parliamentary consideration, which bans the carrying of face coverings or pyrotechnics at demonstrations, and criminalises the scaling of specific memorial structures.