Just Stop Oil protesters were arrested last week. Who is next on the Tory list under the anti-protest laws? (Picture: Guy Smallman)
The Tories missed out on some anti-protest laws in their last round of attacks, so they are ramming through a new Public Order Bill to fill in the gaps. The bill was due for its final reading in the House of Commons this week, and it’s openly designed to hit direct action climate groups.
In the notes introducing the law, the government brands Just Stop Oil and Insulate Britain as “criminal” and “selfish”. But the new measures will then be rolled out more widely. The bill is set to criminalise protesters’ tactics such as locking-on and “intending” to lock-on and obstructing highways or infrastructure.
Such new laws against “obstruction” could be used against anti-racist campaigners or pickets as well as environmental protesters. And the bill will increase stop and search powers that are used disproportionately against black people.
These measures were originally part of the police bill that became law in January. The House of Lords was able to remove some elements from the final version.
But as soon as the bill passed, the then home secretary Priti Patel busied herself with new legislation. The Public Order Bill then hit the Commons in May.
This time the Lords will not be able to halt any of its provisions. Under the bill attaching to others, objects or buildings will carry a maximum penalty of six months in jail, an unlimited fine or both. There is no definition of the word “attached” in the legislation. An offence is caused by being “capable” of creating serious disruption to “two or more people”.
Being found with a bicycle lock or a tube of superglue in the wrong place at the wrong time is enough for a prosecution. Obstructing transport works, construction or maintenance will carry the same punishment as locking-on. The Tories specifically aimed this at protests around the HS2 high-speed railway that have attempted to halt construction.
Tunnelling will carry a three-year jail sentence and intention to tunnel could land activists with up to six months imprisonment. Anything that prevents or delays infrastructure, such as targeting airports, railways, printing presses and oil and gas infrastructure, will carry an unlimited fine and the possibility of 12 months imprisonment.
This hits protests such as anti-racists stopping deportation flights, or when climate activists shut down printing presses for a day in 2020. Cops will be able to conduct a search when they “suspect” someone, but also without any need for suspicion at all.
Legal restrictions will be placed on protesters who have already received punishment for protesting. Being found with certain people in a specific place could lead to an electronic tag or six months in prison.
The Tories are pushing the bill under the guise of “avoiding serious disruption” and “misery” for ordinary people. Their real intention is to silence criticism and prevent opposition. Everyone should oppose this new law, and be ready to defy the laws if they are passed—and whoever they are used against.
The trade unions cannot ignore the crackdowns on Just Stop Oil or Extinction Rebellion. It’s possible to resist. The police bill measures that were rolled out against anti-monarchy protesters after the queen’s death led to a howl of rage from many people.
And those nasty protest laws haven’t stopped climate activists, strikers or anti-racists taking to the streets. Confident resistance will be crucial to defeating the new bill, and confronting it afterwards if it passes. Protesters must stand firm to show the Tories that they cannot stop ordinary people fighting back.
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