This unaltered story [1] was originally published on OpenDemocracy.org.

This unaltered story [1] was originally published on OpenDemocracy.org.
License [2]: Creative Commons 4.0 - Attributions/No Derivities/Int'l.
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6 government policies that are scarier than Halloween

By: []

Date: 2021-11

Anti-protest bill

The horror, the horror | Alamy

Be afraid, be very afraid. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is coming. Restrictions on protests under this legislation will increase the risk of peaceful demonstrators in England and Wales being thrown into the dungeons. This Bill is so broad in its scope that everybody should be worried. Our right to peaceful protest is under attack. The only thing scarier than the grim reaper is a law that gives the home secretary and police unreasonably wide and vague powers to curb demonstrations that they don’t like. The new policing powers will not only threaten the rights to peaceful protest, but will also exacerbate racism and discrimination within the criminal justice system, and essentially seek to ban Gypsies, the Roma and Travellers from their traditional, nomadic way of life.

Alongside the fact that peaceful demonstrators will soon run the risk of being criminalised, it turns out they’re being spied on too. ‘Access Denied’ revealed a “shocking” web of surveillance spun by oil giant BP, which used an ex-MI6 spy firm to snoop on peaceful climate protesters. BP has been keeping tabs on campaigners and sharing information with public institutions, including the British Museum and the University of Warwick. Do you ever feel like you’re being watched? Maybe you are...
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