Under the cover of 'FREEDOM' Day the Police Bill was passed that bans your right to protest

[flashbac]

Without the right to protest we're screwed. 365 MPs voted for it.
If this isn't the path to fascism I don't know what it is.

When did they sneak that through? Not a hint in the media today.

We no longer have a right to protest?

Do you have a link to this please?

@Plumedenom

When did they sneak that through? Not a hint in the media today.

It was televised on BBC Parliament.

That’s disturbing to say the least.

I thought this wasn't banning the right to protest but was amending how people can protest to stop things like the Extinction Rebellion protests which can bring a city to a standstill. Is that wrong?
I am, of course, in favour of peaceful protest but don't think it is acceptable to cause total chaos and risk lives by it (like blocking the route of ambulances)

The bill hasn't even made it through the Commons yet, much less been passed into law.

@IvorHughJarrs

I thought this wasn't banning the right to protest but was amending how people can protest to stop things like the Extinction Rebellion protests which can bring a city to a standstill. Is that wrong? I am, of course, in favour of peaceful protest but don't think it is acceptable to cause total chaos and risk lives by it (like blocking the route of ambulances)

Ummm protest has to do those things eventually- no one takes any notice otherwise. That's why it's protest.

labourlist.org/2021/07/labour-votes-against-as-draconian-anti-protest-bill-passes-by-majority-of-100/

Also on The Metro news website.

My mistake, it is through the Commons. Still has to go through House of Lords, though.

This is the legislation which says you can be imprisoned for 10 years if you seriously annoy someone.

Wow. So that's why they wanted to do a covid announcement today (before the announcement next week that needs "data" not dates).

@flashbac

Without the right to protest we're screwed. 365 MPs voted for it. If this isn't the path to fascism I don't know what it is.

Rubbish. Nobody ever changed anything by marching through the streets. Protest marches are one of the most pointless exercises ever dreamt up by the human brain.

My right to protest owes nothing to the law.

@FaceyRomford

Tell that to the suffragettes, some of whom gave their lives in protest for women’s right to vote.

Successful protest, I might add

Maybe preemptive political manoeuvring to prevent the forthcoming winter of public discontent when the next Covid wave hits and economic collapse begins? Or maybe this is a nightmare that remains a 1984 type movie script than reality. Hopefully!

The f fuck?

That was quiet wasn't it.

Hopefully the lord's will say hell no.

@IvorHughJarrs

I thought this wasn't banning the right to protest but was amending how people can protest to stop things like the Extinction Rebellion protests which can bring a city to a standstill. Is that wrong? I am, of course, in favour of peaceful protest but don't think it is acceptable to cause total chaos and risk lives by it (like blocking the route of ambulances)

This.

The real worry wrt the police bill is the attack on Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller rights and way of life.

www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/04/our-traditions-way-of-life-and-culture-are-under-threat-gypsy-leader-warns-patel

@CalamityJaneDoe

Successful protest, I might add

Was it though? I'm open to be corrected because history isn't my forte but I've watched some programmes on TV, and I thought that Emmeline Pankhurst stopped the suffragette protests in 1914 at the outbreak of the war and spent her time to getting women involved in the war effort. Other suffragette organisations did not encourage women to get involved, but they dud stop their protests. In 1918 women (at least some women) were given the vote in large part in recognition for the work they did. They'd got nothing whilst protesting.

You’re not wrong, and halting suffrage for the war effort was a big part of why they got the right- but the protests were the reason people knew about it to begin with, and each protest pushed the line of acceptance a little every time, and giving up the protests would have meant nothing if there had been no protests to halt.

@CalamityJaneDoe. Thank you for replying. 🙂 I definitely agree it advertised their campaign, but I'm not sure when the war started that people, er men, would have appreciated them stopping protesting, but rather just expected it. And it was definitely a wise move. Just not sure it was the best example of violent protests working. But, hey, whatever, thank god for the suffragettes. 🥰

Torn on this. I can't tell you what a misery ER were making ordinary people's lives. I actually had a medical episode because of my condition, they'd blocked half of central London and I was late so started walking and became really unwell due to my medical condition.

I'm sure I heard of one guy missing a funeral too because he couldn't get through them.

And theirs wasn't so much a protest as an illegal rave in central London. The amount of rubbish and waste they left behind was appalling. Environmental protests my arse.

This isn't just about ER. This allows the police to ban a 1 person demonstration, on the basis that they're making a noise that makes one person feel uneasy. I think that this is about enabling a tiny number of people in power to get away with absolutely anything.

Hong Kong anyone. Nightmare.