Thank you for contacting me about the Public Order Act and the Bill of Rights Bill.
Recent protest activity has severely affected many aspects of life in the UK. We have seen disruption to businesses and travel, emergency services disturbance, whilst costing great amounts to the taxpayer and as a consequence, misery has been brought to the hard-working public.
I understand that the proposals under the public order bill have raised concerns regarding the ability to protest, however I can assure you that the Government is not eroding people's rights. There is a need to reduce this impact protests are having on people’s daily lives, as hard-working people across the UK are seeing their lives brought to a standstill by some activist groups. Therefore, the Public Order Bill sets out to reduce this disruption and provide greater stability to our everyday lives.
Serious Disruption Prevention Orders
As a part of the Public Order Bill, the Government plans to introduce Serious Disruption Prevention Orders or SDPOs. These are intended to prevent protestors who repeatedly are disruptive to public life. This can involve various preventative measures, including prohibiting an individual from being in a particular place or with certain individuals, stopping the encouragement of other protestors, and having possession of particular protest articles. Although at first it may have been a little vague, the definition of ‘serious disruption’ has been amended to clarify this. I would like to reassure you that this clearer definition will ensure these measures are only used and are only applicable in circumstances of severe disruption and the threshold for imposing an SDPO will be suitably high. At least two of the circumstances listed in the legislation must be met for the court to be able to issue an order. With the goal of allowing people to continue their daily lives without these specific incidences of protest and disturbance.
New Stop and Search Powers
I understand your concerns regarding stop and search. There has to be a balance between deploying tactics to help fight crime and ensuring no one feels unduly threatened. The new stop and search powers contained in the Public Order Bill seek to enable the police to proactively tackle highly disruptive protest offences by searching for and seizing items which are made, adapted, or intended to be used in connection with protest-related offences.
However, I want to be clear, no one should be targeted because of their race. The Home Office have made a number of significant improvements to stop and search data collection, allowing for more in-depth insight and analysis, and meaning a single stop and search can be followed through to the outcome. This is part of an ongoing programme of work to improve the clarity and context of stop and search data and to better understand the disparities in stop and search rates.
Bill of Rights
The UK has a long and proud history of freedom. The Bill of Rights will strengthen the rights of the British public, with a greater freedom of the press and expression. For example, through stronger support for journalists keeping sources undisclosed in court; whilst recognising trial by jury as fundamental in the legal system. Therefore, I am welcoming to the Government's recent consultation on reforming the Human Rights Act and the introduction of the Bill of Rights Bill to ensure our human rights system meets the needs of the society it serves and bolster the UK's traditional freedoms. Importantly, the Bill will make clear that the UK Supreme Court is the ultimate judicial decision-maker on human rights issues. This will be achieved while retaining the UK’s fundamental commitment to the European Convention on Human Rights.
I am confident these new changes to public order law will put a stop to the relentless reoffending and significant disruption caused by a selfish minority of protesters which encroach on the rights of the British public to go about their daily lives in peace. I will continue to follow its progress closely.
Thank you for all those who took time to contact me.