A ‘dangerous step towards authoritarianism’
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/dangerous-step-towards-authoritarianism
Protesters taking part in a demonstration organised by Defend our Juries, in support of Palestine Action in Trafalgar Square, London, October 4, 2025Campaigners condemned government’s plan to give police new powers to crack down on protests
CAMPAIGNERS have condemned the government’s mounting authoritarianism after it was announced yesterday that police will be granted new powers to crack down on protests.
The measures follow a mass demonstration in support of proscribed campaign group Palestine Action in which nearly 500 people were arrested in central London on Saturday for peacefully holding signs.
The government plans to amend sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 so that police can consider the “cumulative impact” of protests.
Under the changes, police could instruct organisers to hold protests elsewhere if a site has seen repeated demonstrations.
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Ms Mahmood said that “large repeated protests can leave sections of our country, particularly religious communities, feeling unsafe” and that this was evident in the Jewish community.
On Friday she called for pro-Palestine protesters to “step back” from demonstrations following an attack on a Manchester synagogue in which two people were killed the day before.
Yesterday Stop the War accused the government of weaponising the attack to ramp up its crackdown on the Palestine movement.
The group’s convener, Lindsey German, said: “We condemn the attack on the Manchester synagogue, just as we condemn recent attacks on mosques and hotels accommodating asylum-seekers.
“We wholeheartedly reject the implication that our peaceful marches are in any way responsible for the attack.
“Stop the War has never conflated Israel’s illegal actions with the British Jewish community and will continue to vociferously oppose any attempt to do so.”
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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/dangerous-step-towards-authoritarianism
