Wednesday 14 June 2023

UK Police to have more power to stop road-blocking protestors

British police will have more power to stop protests that block roads or slow march.

That’s after the decision was voted through by the House of Lords, after the tactic was used heavily in the last few years by climate groups such as Just Stop Oil, Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion.

Protests can now be stopped more easily with a lower bar of what is considered disruptive, which the government has said the police need for clarity.

There has been backlash against the decision by some who believe it marks an attack on the right to protest.

Baroness Brown put forward a motion to block the regulation change, stating this “authoritarian law hands power to decide what is a good protest or a bad protest over to the police and the Home Office.”

However, her motion failed with 277 MPs voting in favour of the decision, with 217 against.