Home Affairs Committee report: Policing of Protests
report
Government response: Government's response to
Committee's third report
The Home Affairs Committee has published the Government's
response to its report into the policing of protests.
In the report, the Home Affairs Committee raised concerns about
the rise of hate crime following events in Israel and Gaza, and
subsequent protests. It called for the Government to set out a
clearer pathway for tackling this form of crime. It called on the
Government to update its hate crime action plan, which expired in
2020, and to provide responses to recently published independent
reviews into hate crime.
In its response to the report, the Government has revealed that
it does not intend to publish a new hate crime strategy. The
response also gives no indication of plans to publish a
comprehensive response to the 2023 report into extremism by Dame
Sara Khan and Sir Mark Rowley, Operating with Impunity.
The Government did however agree to the Committee's
recommendation that the operation of the Public Order Act 2023 be
reviewed in post-legislative scrutiny in 2025.
Chair of the Home Affairs Committee, Dame said:
“It is deeply troubling that the Government appears to have
dropped its commitment to produce an up to date strategy setting
out its approach to tackling hate crime.
“We have been concerned by an apparent growth in incidents of
hate crime in recent months. We would expect that the Government
would be redoubling their efforts in reaction to this and we are
disappointed to learn no new update will be forthcoming. However,
we will be writing to the Home Office and expect them to clarify
what their intentions are.”
