Member

Everyone loves protesters in their own cause, whether they are farmers or whoever they happen to be at the time; it is other people’s freedom of expression that is concerning. “My speech is free and everyone else’s is a little bit more expensive”. To suggest that people do not have valid reasons for concealing their appearance at protests is to totally misunderstand the danger that people have to put themselves into on many occasions to protest, particularly outside various embassies in this capital. The provisions on face coverings in the Bill are far too broadly drawn and are of a blanket nature. The existing laws that allow police officers to require individuals to remove a face covering—for example, when they are stopped and searched or arrested—are more than adequate.