Content Warning: This article mentions sexual assault.

Unless you have been living under a rock, you will have heard about the new ‘crime’ bill proposed by the government. If it comes into fruition, this bill would severely limit the rights of protestors, making it increasingly difficult to lead a successful protest without facing endless repercussions. The government wants, it seems, to put an end to protests and will not stop until they have turned us all into rule obeying robots. Following the news coverage on the bill, countless people have expressed disappointment and concern towards this large reduction to the rights of protesters and many have taken to the streets to protest the new protest bill. Ironic that protestors are protesting the new protest bill, right? However, despite the uproar against the bill, it has now passed its second reading with 359 votes, at the time of writing this article, with only 263 MPs voting against it. The large amount of political support for this bill can only be worrying for many as our liberties are being slowly stripped from us.

To understand the full consequences of this bill, it is important to strip it down to its key points. First of all, police now have the reinforced power to exert control over protests through imposing start and finish times, alongside physically breaking up static protests. By regimenting protests in this way, the freedom of protestors will be limited as the police are able to easily restrict protests and thus their impact. These rules can also be applied to a protest of just one person, something which seems extreme and unnecessary. Consequently, the bill curtails any freedom of speech that we previously had. 

Furthermore, following the introduction of this bill, police would be able to set noise limits on protests. Violent and troublesome protests are condemned by many, yet how do the government think those will react who believe their freedom of speech is being stripped from them? Everyone should have the right to stand up for what they believe in and demand real change, whether or not this is uncomfortably loud, as a society, we only ever listen to loud voices, so how can we expect protestors to be quiet?

The next fact I am going to tell you about the proposed bill is horribly misguided and seems unbelievable. One of the other measures included under the bill states that damaging a memorial could land you up to ten years in prison. However, many people have pointed out that ten years in prison for defacing a statue is laughable when many men will only serve five years in prison for rape. Statues, it seems, are considered to be of more value than the bodies of women. Following this observation, protestors have been carrying banners that read ‘10 years for protest, 5 years for rape,’ perfectly encapsulating how warped the government’s priorities are, with inanimate objects viewed as more important than the bodies of women. The government needs to reevaluate its views on the severity of punishment for a rapist vs that of someone who has defaced a statue.

The bill has rightly had many critics, including the Labour Party and groups such as Rights of Women and police monitoring group, Netpol. Shadow justice secretary David Lammy has stated that the measures introduced by the bill are ‘poorly thought-out’ and ‘impose disproportionate controls on free expression and the right to protest.’  I would hope that Lammy’s opinion is one many would agree with since the protest bill will only hinder social progress and obliterate the concept of freedom of expression. We cannot say we have freedom of expression if we are unable to stand and protest against things that we do not agree with. 

Although the Labour Party has recently been critical of the bill, it was originally going to abstain, and only changed its stance following controversy surrounding the police handling of those at a vigil held for Sarah Everard. The unreasonable reaction of the police to the vigil went viral on social media after a photo of a woman being pinned down by them was shared over and over. It is clear to me, therefore, that if anything, the police need less power, not more. Patsy Stevenson was treated unjustly by the police and was instructed that she had to pay a £200 fine, for simply attending a vigil for a woman that society failed to protect. The fact that the police’s immediate reaction to this vigil was to punish those who were merely trying to mourn the loss of a young woman, whose future was stolen too early, shows that an increase in the power and influence of the police will only harm society. Protesting is a fundamental human right and this should not be hindered by certain police officers exercising new powers under this bill.

We all know that protesting is not always pretty, there is no denying that it can even be brutal and violent at times. However, real change never comes from peaceful, rule-abiding protests. Indeed, you only need to look at the Suffragette movement to see this. DUP MP Gavin Robinson has said that ‘protests will be noisy, protests will disrupt and no matter how offensive we may find the issue at their heart, the right to protest should be protected,’ and I could not agree more. Whilst protests might not fit into the government’s ideal of zero public disruption and contestation against legislation, they will never cease to be important.

The new ‘crime’ bill is one that should never come be legalised. This proposed legislation impacts our ability to push for change and show our discontent to the government; it seems it is a way to silence us and maintain the social order. If you believe in freedom of expression and the ability to protest against the nefarious aspects of society, I urge you to join in the social media campaign against this bill. The government needs to realise that giving the police more power does not solve problems, it causes them. We deserve the freedom to fight for what is right. And, on a final note, women’s bodily autonomy is more important than statues.

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