Member

Anonymity is an important enabler of freedom of assembly and association. While, as we will see later, there is a problem with the police deploying live facial recognition at protests per se, a prohibition on face coverings at protests could represent a step towards the possibility of widespread biometric surveillance at protests as well. I am afraid there is no presumption that the right to protest is secure in today’s political climate, never mind under a future Government, and if the clauses in the Bill are not reined in, the right to protest will be even more fragile.