Annie Grey reports on the developments of the controversial policing bill and its implications for democracy.
Photo by Francois Olwage
More than 150 organisations warned ministers that the new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts bill, handing police tougher powers to crack down on protestors would be “an attack on some of the most fundamental rights of citizens”. The wide-ranging bill has come under fire over measures included, which was announced in the wake of mass demonstrations by Extinction Rebellion and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Although Labour vowed to oppose, the bill passed its second reading in the House of Commons on March 16th. Aptly referred to as the “anti-protest bill”, the proposal would make it a crime to cause “serious annoyance or inconvenience” by taking part in a demonstration. One of the controversial measures included increases the maximum sentence for defacing a memorial from three months to ten years, which Labour have argued would allow someone convicted of vandalising a statue to be sentenced to a longer jail term than a rapist.
The bill allows police to restrict protests if the noise they make has a “relevant impact” on people in their vicinity. Since making an impact on people nearby is the point of protests, this bill would give police excessive powers to silence demonstrations. If this wasn’t enough cause for concern, the proposed legislation also gives the home secretary the power to change the legal meaning of the term “serious disruption” by statutory instrument – effectively sidestepping parliament. In the future, if Home Secretary Priti Patel or one of her successors decides that a protest was legal, but they still wanted rid of it, they could simply unilaterally change the law.
Surprisingly, Theresa May, who was responsible for rolling hostile environment policies as home secretary, cautioned her predecessor (Patel) to think twice about the bill which could infringe on our freedoms. Taken aback by the proposal, May stated:
“It’s tempting when home secretary, to think that giving powers to the home secretary is very reasonable, because we all think we’re reasonable. But actually, future home secretaries may not be so reasonable”
Reclaim the Streets
As MPs began a two-day debate on the controversial legislation, hundreds of protesters crowded Parliament Square outside demanding freedom of speech and better protection for women. Amid an atmosphere charged by the police use of force at a vigil for murder victim Sarah Everard (March 13th), people gathered outside parliament (March 14th –15th) to make their voices heard, with police this time taking a hands-off approach.
Demonstrators chanted “kill the bill” and the Metropolitan Police were again criticised for their intervention at the vigil, held on Clapham Common the day before, which led to calls for Metropolitan Police commissioner, Cressida Dick, to resign. Officers grabbed women standing on Clapham Common’s bandstand before taking them away while others at the vigil screamed and cried out. The shadow home secretary, Nick Thomas-Symonds, told MPs that the scenes from Clapham Common should be a “red warning signal” of the dangers of draconian measures in the bill.
A member of Sisters Uncut, a feminist direct action group involved in the Clapham vigil, said: “The police are institutionally violent against women. Handing them more powers will increase violence against women. This bill must be stopped”. This follows the arrest of a serving Metropolitan police officer, later charged with kidnapping Sarah Everard from a London street as she walked home and then murdering her.
Given that the event had been staged to decry violence against women, and that a police officer had been arrested in Sarah Everard’s case, women’s rights activists and lawmakers have condemned the heavy-handed policing witnessed. An investigation has been ordered into the policing of the vigil, as Dame Cressida Dick rejected calls to step down. The police said it had to act to safeguard public health during the coronavirus pandemic.
Deepened Racial Inequality
The bill marks the biggest widening of police powers to impose restrictions on public protest that we’ve seen in our lifetimes. Experts have warned that minorities and disadvantaged communities are likely to be affected the most by the policing bill. A coalition of criminal justice and race equality organisations have written to the prime minister warning that the government’s plans for policing and sentencing will further embed racial inequality in the criminal justice system. The bill contains a number of proposals which the government itself has conceded might have a disproportionate impact on BAME people in equality assessments. Grace Bradley, director of human rights group Liberty, highlighted that parts of the bill will “facilitate discrimination and undermine protest, which is the lifeblood of a democracy”, claiming:
“They risk stifling dissent and making it harder for us to hold the powerful to account […] If enacted, these proposals would expose already marginalised communities to profiling and disproportionate police powers”.
The government has justified this inequality as “a proportionate means of achieving the legitimate aims of protecting the public”. However, in another official document published, the government admits there is “limited evidence that the combined set of measures will deter offenders long term or reduce overall crime” and therefore cannot be guaranteed to actually benefit society. The organisations called for ministers to withdraw elements of the bill it acknowledges will increase racial inequality and to launch a public consultation around the changes “as a matter of urgency” to avoid discrimination.
The bill is also set to criminalise trespassing and roadside camps targeted against Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities, allowing the seizure of vehicles, larger fines, and the potential for prison time. It could have serious implications for the LGBTQ+ community as well, who have already been forced to cancel a major trans rights protest in London, following threats from the police.
At the time of writing (March 18th)., the controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill progress has been delayed. According to the Labour MP Victims and Youth Justice Shadow Minister Peter Kyle, the bill committee has been ‘pulled’ and ‘won’t start until later in the year’ after the bill had its second reading in parliament. Protests against the bill have swept the country in the past couple of weeks, which Peter Kyle, MP for Hove and Portslade, who has been appointed to the bill committee, credits with the delay to the start of the committee. In the attack on free speech this delay comes as a small victory, further demonstrating the power of protest.
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