Member

There is a fear, as we saw in the civil society statement supported by the TUC, that such imprecise language could become a licence to ban protest by the backdoor—if not under this Government then under a future one. Any incidents of violence, antisemitism, Islamophobia or any other form of racism are, of course, intolerable, but the law already provides the police and courts with powers to deal with harassment, threats and incitement. It would be quite wrong to use the imperative of tackling that behaviour by some as justification for curtailing everyone’s freedom of assembly.