UK gov't introduces stringent anti-protest law in Queen’s Speech

LONDON

The British government on Tuesday introduced a set of new and controversial legislation through the deliverance of the Queen’s Speech in the House of Lords.

The Public Order Bill is one of the 38 new laws set out by Downing Street and will give police extended powers to prevent and criminalize demonstrations deemed disruptive by the government. These powers also include further stop and search warrants and new prison terms for those convicted.

“Her Majesty’s Government will protect the integrity of the United Kingdom’s borders and ensure the safety of its people. My Ministers will take action to prevent dangerous and illegal Channel crossings and tackle the criminal gangs who profit from facilitating them. Legislation will be introduced to ensure the police have the powers to make the streets safer,” Prince Charles, who delivered the speech in place of his mother Queen Elizabeth II, said.

“Her Majesty’s Government will ensure the constitution is defended. Her Majesty’s Ministers will restore the balance of power between the legislature and the courts by introducing a Bill of Rights. Legislation will prevent public bodies engaging in boycotts that undermine community cohesion,” he added.

The bill will make it a criminal offence for protesters to peacefully "lock on" to public infrastructure, such as buildings, transport, and roads, in a bid to raise awareness on public issues. Doing so will carry a maximum penalty of six months’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine. Interference with key infrastructures such as airports and railways will warrant a 12-month prison sentence as well as an unlimited fine.

The tactic has been widely used by climate protesters in recent months. Environmental activists from Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion groups had occupied main highways and bridges across the capital London to protest the government’s climate policies. Individual protesters had gone as far as chaining themselves on buildings and public transport.

Insulate Britain is a campaign group calling on the UK government to put in place policy and funding for a national home insulation program, while Extinction Rebellion protesters are demonstrating against the government’s response to climate change and want the government to immediately end all new fossil fuel investments.

The anti-protest law will raise alarm amongst human rights organizations and civil liberty groups who have observed the government’s administration with increasing concern over new laws they deem as anti-democratic that aim to stifle freedoms of expression.

Plans for the new law were introduced in October last year by Home Secretary Priti Patel during the Conservative Party’s annual conference. The proposals, however, were shot down by peers in the House of Lords in January this year. The proposals made up the Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Bill.

Other important laws introduced in the Queen’s Speech include several bills intended to remove the remaining EU legislation and regulations that cover data reform, gene editing, and financial services.

The government will also aim to address the cost of living crisis that has seen the price of food and energy rise significantly and adversely affect working class families across the country as living standards also drop. The government, however, have been blamed by opposition parties for being the source of the crisis and for not doing enough to alleviate it.

"Times are tough for working people. But they are much tougher than they should be. Some 12 years of the Conservatives have meant low economic growth, high inflation, and high taxes,” said Keir Starmer, the leader of the UK’s main opposition Labour Party.

"Because the Tories are not up to the challenge of growing the economy, all those tax hikes aren't going into improving public services. Never before have people been asked to pay so much for so little,” he added.

Opposition parties have used the recent local elections, in which the ruling Conservative Party suffered heavy losses by losing up to 500 seats, as evidence of the government’s inept and incompetent rule and have urged Downing Street to use the Queen’s Speech as a means to tackle the country’s growing issues.

"Rural communities that have been forgotten about by (Prime Minister) Boris Johnson's Conservatives are fed up with being taken for granted. From Somerset to my own patch of Westmorland and Furness, people used the local elections to make that crystal clear,” Tim Farron of the Liberal Democrats said.

"They don't deserve tonnes of raw sewage being dumped into their rivers. They don't deserve having to wait hours for an ambulance to arrive. And farmers don't deserve to be undercut by damaging new trade deals and the slashing of farm payments,” he added.

This year’s Queen's Speech was delivered by Prince Charles, the monarch’s eldest son. The move represents a significant shift and transition in the responsibilities held by the queen who, since her enthronement in 1952, had delivered the state opening of parliament.