Public Order Bill
My response to concerns about the right to protest and the new Public Order Bill.
February 2023
Thank you for writing to me about the Public Order Bill,
The ability to strike and protest is fundamental to our democracy and the government fully supports the right to peaceful protest.
The new Public Order Bill solely criminalise those who create serious disruption to people's daily lives, such as tunnelling, where tunnels are dug to disrupt legitimate activities, placing both the public and protestors lives at risk.
Disruptive protests have cost millions of pounds to the British taxpayer, and have brought our streets to a standstill.
While the government recognises the concerns over human rights, the bill is compliant with articles 10 and 11 European Convention of Human Rights which set out that everyone has the right to freedom of expression and assembly.
I would like to reassure my constituents that there is a suitably high threshold of disruption in order for protestors to be charged
The requirements that must be filled before a Serious Disruption Prevention Order can be imposed can be found below:
I will continue to monitor any developments on the bill closely.