Responding to the passing of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and
Courts Bill, Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s CEO,
said:
“This is dark day for civil liberties in the UK. This
deeply-authoritarian Bill places profound and significant
restrictions on the basic right to peacefully protest and will
have a severely detrimental impact on the ability of ordinary
people to make their concerns heard.
“Protest is a cherished part of British history - from the
anti-slavery movement, to the suffragettes and recent anti-war
marches and the Policing Bill is in direct conflict with the
values of freedom and liberty that this government claims to
uphold.
“This Bill also persecutes traveller communities and will further
entrench racism and discrimination in British policing through
its huge expansion of stop-and-search powers.
“The Policing Bill is part of a hugely worrying and widespread
attack on human rights from across Government which will not only
see basic rights reduced across the board, but will also strip
people of the means to challenge or contest their treatment.”
Controversial Bill passes after protracted ‘ping-pong’
tussle
The controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and
Courts Bill was finally passed last night (26 April) by the
House of Lords after a series of vote won by the government.
It marks the end of a tussle, known as parliamentary ping-pong,
between the Houses of Commons and Lords over the Bill.
The Bill significantly widens the range of situations in which
police officers can place conditions on protests including being
able to ban ‘noisy protests’ perhaps the most controversial
element of the Bill.
In the end, after months of fierce debate and opposition from
across Parliament and the public, Peers rejected moves to strip
the controversial curbs from the legislation.
The government agreed a requirement for the Home Secretary to
conduct a review of the new powers within two years, though this
will not be considered a concession by all those who opposed the
Bill, given the deeply concerning powers within it. The Bill is
now set to go forward for royal assent.
