Right to protest & free expression
News about the right to protest
The London Olympics are the most Right-wing major event in Britain’s modern history. Billions of pounds are taken from poor and middle-income taxpayers and service users to build temples to a corporate and sporting elite. Democratic, grassroots sport is stripped of money to fund the most rarefied sport imaginable.
Olympic Goodwill Image Belied by Arrests, Censorship and Corporate Ties Behind London GamesTuesday, July 31, 2012 While NBC has been airing wall-to-wall coverage of Olympic Games in London, little attention has been paid to what has taken place behind the scenes and just outside Olympic Park.
The Government’s Draft Communications Data Bill was published in June marking the first step on a slippery slope towards blanket surveillance of the entire population. The Bill proposes to increase the collection and storage of “communications data” – records of email, text and phone calls – for the entire population.
A detailed report launched on 24 July by the Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol) highlights how promises made by the police to ‘adapt to protest’ after 2009′s G20 demonstrations in London have been forgotten in a remarkably short space of time and a far more intolerant ‘total policing’ style response to protesters has developed in the UK.
A Conference hosted by the Network for Police Monitoring.
Sunday 17th April. 10.30am – 5pm.
Venue : Rich Mix 35 – 47 Bethnal Green Road, London, E1 6LA
Mark Thomas' Mass Lone Demos in Parliament Square
Reclaiming our Rights conference
For more information on freedom to protest, see:
CAMPACC has campaigned against the ban on unauthorised protests around Parliament with Mark Thomas who staged a series of protests around Parliament mocking the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. SOCPA was introduced essentialy to prevent one lone person (Brian Haw) from protesting in Parliament Square. While the law failed to stop Brian Haw protesting, it has significantly restricted protests in the 'designated area' around Parliament and created a 'chilling effect' that undermines the right to protest around Parliament but also elsehwere.
CAMPACC also submitted evidence to the following:
Joint Committee on Human Rights call for evidence on Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill, Oct 2009
Read CAMPACC's submission welcoming the proposed repeal of the restrictions on protest around Parliament under s132-138 SOCPA but expressing concerns about alternative measures to be put in place. Read the draft legislation here.
Joint Committee on Human Rights Inquiry into Policing and Protest, 2008
Read the JHRC report Demonstrating respect for rights? A human rights approach to policing protest, March 2009 and CAMPACC's submission to the JHRC Inquiry. Some analysis of the report can be found here.
Government consultation on 'Managing Protest around Parliament', 2008
At the same time as the results of this Home Office consultation were published, the Government recommended the repeal of section 132-138 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 which ban unauthorised protest around Parliament and the use of loudspeakers. See here for details and the progress of the repeal. Read CAMPACC's response to the government consultation