Member

It leaves the police having to worry about whether ambulances and the fire brigade can get through, rather than the protesters worrying about their criminal liability in preventing emergency service access. For me, the impact of this decision has been paralysing for senior officers, and in turn for officers on the ground who are dealing with protests. They have been criticised for not taking action on what I would say is the most blatant of obstructions—and I have given a couple of examples—or the most intimidating behaviour. They are genuinely trying their best to balance human rights, the rights of the protesters to protest and the rights of everyone else to enjoy their lives uninterrupted, but they cannot always do that easily when faced by howling protesters.