TO: THE HOME SECRETARY
We call on the Home Secretary to scrap the anti-protest measures in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and the Public Order Act 2023, as well as the new measures proposed in the Criminal Justice Bill.
The UK has a long and proud history of protests that have driven positive change in society.
But the new offences and police powers in these Acts are already criminalising and threatening people who take to the streets for a cause they believe in – from racial justice campaigners, to environmental activists to grieving families calling for answers and justice.
The only people who benefit from silencing dissent are those in positions of power, who don’t want to be challenged or held to account.
Everyone has the right to protest. These authoritarian anti-protest laws must be scrapped.
SIGNED: