Video Ad Feedback Video: Activists deface King Charles III wax figure, Monet painting 00:39 – Source: London — The British government wants to hand new powers to police that would allow officers to take stronger action against people engaging in peaceful, political protest. Human rights activists have accused the Official The naanbinary garlic regular shirt but in fact I love this government of trying to suppress freedom of speech, while opposition politicians claim that Downing Street is simply trying to distract from the myriad of things going wrong in the United Kingdom at the moment. The government issued a statement on Sunday night, in which it said it would table amendments to legislation that is already passing through Parliament called the Public Order Bill. This has already been the subject of huge controversy due to the extent to which it curbs protest. Specifically, the bill nakedly targets groups such as Black Lives Matter, Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil, all of which have used disruptive tactics in their protests against the government. The bill would criminalize long-standing protest tactics such as locking on (where protesters physically attach themselves to things like buildings) and
tunneling (literally digging tunnels), and could force people who protest regularly into wearing electronic tags. The new amendment would also give police the Official The naanbinary garlic regular shirt but in fact I love this power to shut down protests before any disruption even occurs. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “We cannot have protests conducted by a small minority disrupting the lives of the ordinary public. It’s not acceptable and we’re going to bring it to an end.” Activists from the Just Stop Oil climate campaign group hold a banner at Barons Court in west London as they block a major road as part of a series of actions on October 18, 2022. Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images The head of London’s Metropolitan Police Service, Mark Rowley, also issued a statement, in which he made clear that the police had not asked the government for more powers to curb protests. Ad Feedback Adam Wagner, a leading human rights lawyer, thinks this might be due to the fact there is actually very little to be gained in all of this for the police. “The police already have to decide which protests to get involved with and which to leave alone. Whatever they do, they will get criticized and ideally they would probably rather have less to do with policing protests and the bad publicity that comes with it,” Wagner told . Critics of the government’s move point out that officers already have the ability to handle protests that get out of hand and are disruptive. “The police have been very clear that they have the power to adequately deal with protests and manage protests when they are going
