#RightToProtest is under attack in #England and #Wales, reports warn
#HumanRightsWatch and Justice say recent legislative changes have had a chilling effect and should be repealed

by Haroon Siddique
Thu 8 Jan 2026

"The right to protest is under attack in England and Wales with laws trampling over human rights protections and more oppressive restrictions in the pipeline, two major reports have warned.

"Both Human Rights Watch and the cross-party law reform organisation Justice say recent legislative changes have created a chilling effect on lawful protest and should be repealed. Their reports, simultaneously published on Thursday, also say that proposals for more curbs should be halted.

"They highlight the arrest of Republic #AntiMonarchy protesters during King Charles’s coronation, charges and arrests of #ProPalestinian demonstrators and long sentences for #ClimateProtesters as examples of the crackdown on the right to peaceful dissent.

"Fiona Rutherford, chief executive of Justice, said: 'Year by year, we see police powers grow, as our fundamental right to protest is treated more like a privilege. The law in this area has become dangerously unbalanced, empowering the state to silence voices it should be safeguarding. Reversing this trend is essential to restoring trust, protecting rights and preserving a healthy democracy.'

"Lydia Gall, a senior Europe and Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: 'The UK is now adopting protest-control tactics imposed in countries where democratic safeguards are collapsing. The UK should oppose such measures, not replicate and endorse them.'

"Both reports say that the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and the #PublicOrderAct 2023 were watershed moments, criminalising large amounts of previously lawful protest activity and placing a greater emphasis on preemptive containment of protest through criminal law.

The 2022 law granted police authority to impose conditions on public assemblies on grounds such as causing 'serious unease' or being 'too noisy', described by Human Rights Watch as 'vague and subjective'.

"Members of the public can be arrested for carrying items – described as innocuous by Justice – including cable ties, bike locks or glue, on suspicion that they may be used for 'locking‑on'."

Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/08/right-to-protest-is-under-attack-in-england-and-wales-reports-warn

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/KORuE

#CriminalizingProtest #SilencingDissent #EnvironmentalActivists #GazaGenocide #HumanRights #AntiProtestLaws
#RightToProtest #ACAB #UKPol #JustStopOil #PalestineAction

Bruh, if EVER you hesitate to indulge your rage at the owning class, and if EVER you think we should be a little more compassionate towards billionaires, just look up The Heritage Foundation's "Project Esther".

It makes 1984, The Handmaid's Tale, and pretty much any cyberpunk/dystopic hellscape you want to name look like a frolic through an endless wildflower meadow. 😑

LITERALLY all they want are slaves.
LITERALLY they only see their fellow human beings as livestock to be tagged, monitored, used, controlled, culled, and disposed of.

They have given up their humanity completely.

Any and all overtures that they make towards seeming to think or act in good faith towards others is a distraction and a smokescreen; designed to delay us in stopping them from completely ruining the Earth, and turning the human race into misery-riddled automatons.

Regard them and treat them as such.