How Britain is waging war against protesters

Under pressure to tackle what the media calls a “winter of discontent,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has promised tough new laws aimed at limiting the right to protest.

“The right to protest is a fundamental principle of our democracy, but this is not absolute. A balance must be struck between the rights of individuals and the rights of the hard-working majority to go about their day-to-day business,” said Sunak.

Through an amendment tabled to the Public Order Bill, the government wants to broaden the legal definition of ‘serious disruption’, giving police “greater flexibility” over when to intervene to stop protesters, says the government’s official website.

The changes introduced also mean that “police will not need to wait for disruption to take place and can shut protests down before chaos erupts”, reads the official website.

The government claims that protests by environmental groups, workers strikes or Black Lives Matter, have been "a drain on public funds" or resulted in assaults on police officers. 

However, even though the government claims to aim the new measures at disruptive or dangerous protests, peaceful protests have also been restricted.

Point in case, a number of people were arrested for staging protests at official events that marked the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the proclamation of her successor, King Charles III on September 2022.

Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights accused the government then of trying to create "new powers in areas where the police already have access to powers and offences which are perfectly adequate".

Even though Sunak’s measures haven’t been enacted into law, human rights activists have expressed concern about the government’s position in the matter and the way people are constantly policed for exercising their rights.