The government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill (the Policing Bill) reaches a crucial stage in January. This Bill is a threat to basic civil liberties and has been made even worse by a series of amendments that have been slipped in at a late stage, without proper scrutiny or debate.
In effect, the Bill gives the police, acting under instruction from government, the power to stop any protest. The criminal offences created by the Bill and its amendments carry a maximum sentence of 51 weeks in prison.
These are dictatorial powers that would remove some of our most basic democratic rights and freedoms. They would enable the government, or future governments, to turn the UK into a police state.
Green Party peers Baroness Jenny Jones and Baroness Natalie Bennett have been leading resistance to the Bill in the House of Lords. We're going to support them digitally by raising awareness of this bill on social media. Please join us in updating your profile picture.