M

Member

Speaking in the House of Lords on 9 March 2026

Debate

Crime and Policing Bill

Contribution

Secondly, the sheer number of places of worship in a country that is as religiously diverse and closely populated as Britain could mean that a significant proportion of the country is turned into a no-protest zone, as has been explained. A single street could be the site of a specific private business, media organisation or government health institution alongside various places of worship. Clause 139, as it is presently drafted, could allow worshippers or religious leaders to ask police to pre-emptively restrict protests not aimed at them at all but covering topics that the religious might consider offensive or intimidating—for example, a women’s rights pro-choice demo aimed at an anti-abortion charity’s offices in the vicinity of a Christian church, or a pro-Israel demo at a media organisation complaining about biased TV coverage but in the vicinity of a mosque. You could see how that could happen.

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