https://arab.news/gxg8t
- Move comes after nearly 500 people detained in London for supporting Palestine Action
- Home secretary: ‘The frequency of particular protests in particular places is in and of itself a reason for the police to be able to restrict and place conditions’
LONDON: Police in the UK will receive new powers to crack down on protests.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is set to reassess all existing anti-protest laws, including giving police the ability to relocate regular demonstrations and ban protests outright based on the “cumulative impact” of “repeated disorder” at marches and rallies.
It comes after around 500 people were arrested in central London for taking part in a demonstration in support of banned group Palestine Action.
Mahmood told Sky News that she believes there is “a gap in the law” that requires immediate correction.
“What I will be making explicit is that cumulative disruption, that is to say the frequency of particular protests in particular places, is in and of itself a reason for the police to be able to restrict and place conditions,” she said.
Mass events in support of the Palestinian cause have become a regular feature of weekends in London since the Gaza war began in October 2023.
A new element, though, is demonstrations in support of Palestine Action, which was banned as a terrorist group after a series of incidents, including a break-in at a Royal Air Force base earlier this year.
There had been calls for people not to march in support of the people of Gaza or Palestine Action this weekend following the deaths of two people in a terrorist attack on a synagogue in Manchester earlier in the week, including from Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
In response, Defend Our Juries, which organized Saturday’s protest, said in a statement that it is up to the authorities to “choose to prioritise protecting the public from real terrorism, and not waste resources on enforcing the absurd and ridiculous ban on Palestine Action.”