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Stop the government criminalising protest

tuga

tuga

Legal Alien
The unstoppable Tories...

Stop the government criminalising protest

We have only 5 days left now to get the worst of this bill opposed.

There is still time for you to make your voice heard, either individually or with your local Green Party. The Campaigns Committee has created a pack of materials that you can use. These include social media posts, placards and a template press release for local protest events, and a template email to MPs/Lords.

How you can make a difference:

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Protest – Organise local protests in your community

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Spread the word on Social Media – take a photo of yourself holding one of these signs and share it using the hashtag #ProtestIsNotACrime

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Email your MP – You can use our template or write in your own words

 
This is really important, and for the benefit of those who know nothing about it, it is not a Green issue (though the Green Party are one of many organisations seeking to put a stop to the proposals).

IMHO, it's (yet another) step down the slippery slope towards populism/proto-fascism, essentially reducing the right to protest and increasing draconian police powers.

The UK Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights has condemned the proposed powers, together with many sensible organisations and news groups (FT, Guardian, Amnesty, New Statesman, Liberty, all of the opposition parties etc). The House of Lords has voted against it and even the DUP abstained...

It's pretty simple. The police and the state are meant to represent, work for and protect the individuals in their societies, not oppress them.

https://www.statewatch.org/news/202...ch-human-rights-says-parliamentary-committee/
 
I marched against it last Saturday, a good humoured march only slightly marred by a small bunch of anti vax dross tagging on and trying to divert the agenda. Our MP, the excellent Hywel Williams gave a short and punchy speech. Sadly he's retiring after this term, and Arfon constituency will be gerrymandered into merging with Conwy, a tory seat with lots of blow ins and gammon retirees. Hopefully we don't suffer a double blow next election.

Sorry, rambling a bit here, but the gerrymandering is part of the tory fascist agenda too.
 
Of all places, there was a fairly strenuous section about this on this morning's Woman's Hour on R4.

The programme has actually been a stiffer examination of various political ideas and figures than one might have expected recently, and at a time when most of the news attention is firmly on other things, it may actually be a good place to help the issue cut through around the edges.
 
Very very worrying lack of interest all round on this... few replies here, I'm not hearing much if anything from Labour etc.
This is more important than brexit and yet we are walking into authoritarianism in near silence!
 
Dave***t said:
Of all places, there was a fairly strenuous section about this on this morning's Woman's Hour on R4.

The programme has actually been a stiffer examination of various political ideas and figures than one might have expected recently, and at a time when most of the news attention is firmly on other things, it may actually be a good place to help the issue cut through around the edges.
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Go Emma!
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Sorry, wrong picture:
iu
 
Posted on another thread but relevant here:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ote-against-policing-bill-climate-catastrophe
Lords began voting on amendments to some of the most controversial aspects of the bill on Monday, with more debate on Wednesday. Next Monday, peers will vote on last-minute government amendments that human rights activists have described as “a dangerous power grab”. With the amendments likely to fail if the lords vote them down, the stage is set for a potential showdown with the government – if Labour also opposes them.
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The last-minute government amendments are deeply pernicious additions to a bill that is already dangerously authoritarian. Whether Labouw whips its peers to vote against them will be a useful test of whether Starmer has any spine at all.

The Guardian has a dismal record of standing up for fundamental liberal values recently. but this is not the first time it has covered this aspect of the story. It's also one of Starmer's main cheerleaders, so perhaps there is some hope that the sharpest edges will be knocked off the legislation next week.
 
droodzilla said:
Posted on another thread but relevant here:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ote-against-policing-bill-climate-catastrophe

The last-minute government amendments are deeply pernicious additions to a bill that is already dangerously authoritarian. Whether Labouw whips its peers to vote against them will be a useful test of whether Starmer has any spine at all.

The Guardian has a dismal record of standing up for fundamental liberal values recently. but this is not the first time it has covered this aspect of the story. It's also one of Starmer's main cheerleaders, so perhaps there is some hope that the sharpest edges will be knocked off the legislation next week.
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The entire thing must be defeated never mind the amendments!
 
I reckon the scum have realised that unless there is a sudden 1000% rise in the price of feeding hounds and horses or a massive tax rise on green wellies then almost everyone likely to want to protest about anything is not likely to vote scum party party party anyway...
 
When one has Extinction Rebllion on the one side and Anti Vax on the other something should be done to curtail the stupids leveraging the current law.
 
The bill was first brought to parliament back in March 2021 where it immediately sparked outrage from human rights groups, charities and NGOs (Non-governmental organisations). More power would be given to the police to shut down a protest if they decide it’s too disruptive or even just too “noisy”.

It was then thrust into the spotlight after the police’s handling of the Sarah Everard vigil – where people were arrested as they gathered to mourn the murder of the young women.

Because of protests led by grassroots groups like Sisters Uncut, the government was forced to delay the bill – (which in itself shows you the power of protest). Eventually though, when the media spotlight was elsewhere, the bill passed the first stage of scrutiny from MPs in early July 2021 and was moved to the House of Lords, where it’s currently being debated.

Then in November something very worrying happened. Usually when a bill goes to the Lords it gets watered down and the more controversial elements are removed. In the case of the Policing Bill, it’s actually gone from bad to worse.

The Home Office quietly added fresh amendments which effectively criminalise protest altogether. These amendments were made at the last minute away from parliamentary scrutiny. The government is trying to push this bill through before people can actually process its implications.

Then there’s the creation of new crimes for “wilful obstruction of a highway” and “interfering with the operation of key infrastructure” including roads, airports and oil refineries. In short, the stuff that’s driving us towards climate breakdown and urgently needs to be “interfered with”.

“Locking on”people linking arms or even holding hands at a protest.

These are core techniques used to protest the world over and have been used throughout British history. The Suffragettes did it and helped win women the right to vote. More recently disabled activists saved lives from benefits cuts by chaining their wheelchairs to traffic lights.

the government is banking on you believing that this is only going to impact a small number of people blocking roads or motorways. What’s vital to understand is that the bill goes way beyond them. The government is using it as a smokescreen to clamp down on all forms of protest so they can be held less accountable by the public. Even if you don’t agree with blocking roads, this bill affects you and you should be extremely worried because it’s not an exaggeration to say that the UK is on its way to becoming a police state under these new laws.

https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/why-you-should-be-worried-about-the-new-policing-bill/
 
Wilson said:
When one has Extinction Rebllion on the one side and Anti Vax on the other something should be done to curtail the stupids leveraging the current law.
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How are you leveraging the current law? Do you have a tame police force? Why do you need this new legislation then?
 
Demonstrations all over the country and try finding any reporting of it in MSM... we already live in a fascist police state! You can find vastly better news reporting (indeed hear of things in the UK not reported in UK media!) on Al Jazeera than on BBC Pravda.
 
Indeed, I wonder how much longer they'll allow us to watch it on freesat/view. RT occasionally disappears and they're funding the tories! (Well some of their oligarch mates and Putin puppets)
 
Arkless Electronics said:
Just look at the lack of replies in this thread
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As mentioned above, I strongly suspect that in many people's minds (especially on here with the demographic...) the concept of protests are strongly linked to anti-vaxxers and climate. Hence little backlash.

There have been some huge 'freedom' protests in recent months, but the link to antivaxers and clear participation by them smears the rest of the message (albeit that many of the loss of freedoms, or potential loss of freedoms being protested e.g. personal choice, are of course related to vaccination and covid restrictions).

If changes in legislation keep going in this direction, it'll be time to leave to downunder again...though Oz seems even worse at the moment!
 
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