Government unveils greater police powers in crackdown on repeat protests

Revealed on Sunday, the plans will see police forces granted wider powers by the Home Secretary over how protests are policed and organised.

The news comes less than 24 hours after police made nearly 500 arrests as pro-Palestine supporters took to the streets of central London.

In a letter from the Home Office, Ms Mahmood said the country is facing "a period of heightened tensions and division" and the changes are needed to "tackle the repeated disruptive protests we have seen".

"Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we will amend sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 to allow senior officers to consider the cumulative impact of protests on local communities when they are imposing conditions on public processions and assemblies.

"This will allow you more flexibility to prevent disruptive protests from attending the same location and instruct organisers to move to a different site."

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The Home Secretary said she would encourage police "to consider all the powers available" when addressing protests, and she will continue to assess the "full suite of public order legislation" in order to ensure it is "keeps pace".

The Metropolitan Police said 488 arrests were made for supporting the proscribed organisation Palestine Action, including six people who were detained for unfurling a banner backing the proscribed group on Westminster Bridge.

The new powers, which will be brought forward as soon as possible, will allow senior officers to consider the ‘cumulative impact’ of previous protest activity. 

Speaking on the "inconsistency" of the law, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood also touched on the protests and subsequent arrests with Lewis Goodall on Sunday.

"What's very clear to me, there is a need to amend the law," she told LBC.

The Home Secretary said she wanted to make it "absolutely explicit that when the police are placing restrictions or conditions on protests, they are allowed to take into account what we call cumulative disruption, that is to say, the number of protests by particular groups in particular places."

"Those are relevant factors for the police to take into account when they put conditions on where a protest can take place. I do think that that needs to be made explicit in the law.

"There is an inconsistency of practice at the moment, and making it absolutely clear that this is a relevant factor for the police to take into account, I think will strengthen the law," she continued.

"I'm afraid, whether you're a Vicar or an 89 year old, or indeed anybody else, if you're holding up a placard that is supporting a proscribed organisation, you are breaking the law of our land."

Going forward, if a protest has taken place at the same site for weeks on end and caused repeated disorder, the police will have the authority to, for example, instruct organisers to hold the event somewhere else.

Anyone who breaches the conditions will risk arrest and prosecution, the Home Office said.

The Home Secretary is set to also review existing legislation to ensure that powers are sufficient and being consistently applied.

This will include powers to ban protests outright, and will also include provisions in the Crime and Policing Bill, which is currently going through Parliament. 

The Government will make these changes by amending Sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “The right to protest is a fundamental freedom in our country. However, this freedom must be balanced with the freedom of their neighbours to live their lives without fear.

“Large, repeated protests can leave sections of our country, particularly religious communities, feeling unsafe, intimidated and scared to leave their homes. This has been particularly evident in relation to the considerable fear within the Jewish community, which has been expressed to me on many occasions in these recent difficult days.

“These changes mark an important step in ensuring we protect the right to protest while ensuring all feel safe in this country."

Saturday's protests saw most of the arrests take place in Trafalgar Square, where protesters held placards showing their support for Palestine Action.

The final total of 492 arrests included others made for being drunk and disorderly, common assault, a public order offence and being wanted for an unrelated matter.