In what has been described as a “staggering assault” on the right to protest, new laws will give Patel powers to create laws to define “serious disruption” to communities and organisations, which police can then rely on to impose conditions on protests.
The HMICFRS report, ordered by Patel following Extinction Rebellion (XR) and Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests, outlines a “need to develop” covert intelligence gathering methods and an expectation of increased use of facial recognition technology, despite a court of appeal ruling last year that its use in south Wales breached privacy rights and broke equalities law.
The report also supports expanding stop and search “to prevent serious disruption caused by protests”, amid concerns over discriminatory use of the power.
Emmanuelle Andrews, policy and campaigns officer at Liberty, said: “These plans are a staggering assault on our right to protest as well as an attack on other fundamental rights.
Read the full article here:
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/priti-patel-is-about-to-rush-through-draconian-crackdowns-on-the-right-of-peaceful-protest-257419/