from-james-wild.txt

Dear Ms. Lawson, 

Thank you for contacting me about protests and the Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill.

In this country we have a long-standing tradition that people can gather together and demonstrate, and the right to protest peacefully is a fundamental part of our democracy.

As you will be aware a national lockdown is now in place, however. This means we must all stay at home and only leave for a small number of essential reasons as outlined in law. 

I share concerns about the policing in Clapham. I commented publicly to express my concerns at the policing of the vigil and I said the scenes of women being manhandled were appalling. It was entirely understandable that people wanted to remember Sarah Everard and to highlight the very important issues of violence against women and girls and I welcome the independent review the Home Secretary has ordered.

There has been much focus on the clauses in the Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Bill relating to public order, and rightly so; the right to protest is an essential part of our democracy.

However, the powers in the Bill are not about that; nor are they about the temporary Covid restrictions. They are there to deal with deliberate tactics that have led to disproportionate disruption that stop people getting on with their daily lives - blocking of ambulances, closing of bridges, people gluing themselves to trains, blocking access to Parliament, hampering the free press.

Some call that legitimate protest. My view is that those actions undermine the careful balance between the rights of protesters and the rights of people to go about their daily lives.

The changes in the Bill update laws dating from 1986 and the measures in the Bill will allow the police to take a more proactive approach in managing highly disruptive protests causing serious disruption to the public. These powers will allow the police to safely manage protests where they threaten public order and stop people from getting on with their daily lives.

When using these, or existing public order powers, the police must act within the law and be able to demonstrate that their use of powers are necessary and proportionate. They must act compatibly with human rights, principally Article 10 (freedom of expression) and Article 11 (freedom of association).

I recognise that there are concerns, and those provisions will be considered further in detailed line-by-line scrutiny in Committee.

I spoke in the debate on Second Reading to make these points and my speech can be viewed here https://jameswild.org.uk/news/james-wild-mp-welcomes-new-measures-protect-emergency-workers-and-tackle-crime

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.

Best wishes, 

James


James Wild MP
Member of Parliament for North West Norfolk
House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA
[email protected]
www.jameswild.org.uk
@jamesowild
Sign up for my weekly newsletter here.
 
For Government and NHS advice on Coronavirus:
www.gov.uk/coronavirus
www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19