The Policing Bill has been working its way through various stages of parliamentary debate for several months now. Following a historic defeat last night in the House of Lords, policy officer Maisie Hulbert outlines why the issue of noisy protest is so important, and how charities can help.
My phone sometimes notifies me with a reminder of where I was on this date in another year and sends me a picture. Today, it reminded me of where I was three years ago, on 23 March 2019. I was at a protest. It was a huge protest, with thousands of people – and quite a lot of noise.
Today, 23 March 2022, I’m waking up to the news that the House of Lords has again defeated government proposals as part of the Police, Crimes, Sentencing and Courts bill, to impose noise-based restrictions on protest. These proposals – and the Bill more generally – are really concerning. They are draconian and anti-democratic, giving police the power to shut down noisy protests and criminalise demonstrators if they think the noise caused by the protest is ‘excessive’.
Protest is disruptive by nature. Without disruption, social change never happens. It is vital for society to move and change, and noise is key to that. Most protests and campaigns throughout history seemed extreme and inconvenient at the time – but many have achieved change which is almost unanimously accepted as positive. I don’t think many people would say that they wished the suffragettes had been a bit less extreme about getting women the right to vote. In years to come, we’ll feel the same about protests which might sometimes feel over the top to some people today.
The PCSC Bill is a concerning and wide-ranging piece of legislation that has serious implications for democracy. There is huge strength of feeling on this across society. Individuals, politicians and the police themselves have said these additional powers are unclear, unnecessary and extremely challenging to implement effectively. The Police Bill Alliance (a group of civil society organisations leading a range of action against the bill) have done incredible work outlining key concerns as the bill has progressed through Parliament. ACEVO is a member and you can read this blog I wrote in November and a blog from Kathleen Christie in January outlining some of the influencing action – but do follow Quakers, Liberty and Friends of the Earth for regular and more detailed updates.
The Bill is currently in ping pong, where amendments are passed back and forth between the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The Lords have already pushed back on the government cracking down on noisy protest once, and the government put this back into the bill. Yesterday, Lords insisted that restrictions on noise cannot be included, and so next week the Bill will return to the Commons for more debate. It’s important to recognise that this is unusual and demonstrates the strength of feeling.
Charities have a long and proud history of protesting and campaigning, and their work questioning policy and speaking truth to power has helped deliver change on enduring social problems. Part of the power of protest is the noise that a collective voice can make about an issue, both literally and metaphorically. That collective voice builds movements of people who care. We don’t yet know exactly how this Bill will look when the process concludes, but we know already that some elements will go through and that the impacts of this will be deeply felt. In particular, measures which threaten the way of life of Gypsy and Traveller communities were not voted out and will have serious impacts. We stand in solidarity with these communities, and along with a movement of civil society voices who have been involved in challenging this bill, we will continue to speak out. We need to preserve our right to protest now, to preserve a society in which that can happen.
Whether your organisation takes part in noisy protest or not, protest is an important part of making communities heard, and we should all be worried to see that undermined in any capacity. You can still act to change this, by urging your MP and other politicians you have relationships with at your organisation to vote against reintroducing these measures when the bill is debated again next week. I hope that many ACEVO members and their teams will feel able to. You can do so by using this great tool from Liberty or writing in your own words.
If you have any questions about the bill, please get in touch with our policy team.
