Last week, Labour and the Liberal Democrats voted against the government's Public Order Bill to stop dangerous protest tactics, once again siding with disruptive protestors blocking roads and emergency services.
This Bill addresses a rise in criminal and disruptive tactics being carried out by a selfish minority in the name of protest which diverts police resources from communities where they are needed to prevent serious violence and neighbourhood crime and which has seen parts of the country ground to a halt and at huge costs. The Metropolitan Police confirmed that policing Extinction Rebellion protests in 2019 cost the force £37 million, twice the annual budget of the violent crime reduction taskforce.
The Public Order Bill will provide the police with new powers to better balance the right to protest peacefully with the rights of the general public to go about their daily lives free from serious disruption or harm. It will build on the public order measures in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, taking account of the disruptive and dangerous tactics employed in recent months.
The Bill includes the following key measures:
- A new criminal offence of locking-on and going equipped to lock-on, criminalising the tactic of individuals intentionally causing obstruction and delays by locking themselves on to busy roads, buildings, or scaffolding.
- A new criminal offence of tunnelling, being present in a tunnel, and going equipped to tunnel, criminalising the dangerous and reckless protest tactic we have seen being deployed.
- A new criminal offence of obstructing major transport works. This will cover any behaviours which obstruct or interfere with the construction or maintenance of significant transport projects such as HS2.
- A new criminal offence for interfering with key national infrastructure. This covers any behaviour which prevents or significantly delays the operation of key national infrastructure, including as airports, railways, oil refineries, and printing presses.
- Extended stop and search powers for police to search for and seize articles related to protest-related offences.
- A new preventative court order – the Serious Disruption Prevention Order - targeting protestors who are determined to repeatedly inflict disruption on the public
In July, the Government also tabled an additional amendment which creates a power for a Secretary of State to bring injunctive proceedings in relation to protest activity which may cause serious disruption or have a serious adverse impact on public safety.
Richard Fuller MP said:
Dangerous protesters like Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil are inflicting misery on commuters.
That is why this government is cracking down on these extremists through our Public Order Bill, ensuring the general public can get to work, go to school, and go about their daily lives free from serious disruption or harm.
