05 July 2021
"Justification for law that ‘violates human rights’ questioned ahead of vote by MPs"
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"Police say they never asked for crackdown on ‘noisy’ protests in government’s policing bill
Senior police officers have undermined the government's justification for controversial new laws to crack down on “noisy” protests, saying they did not ask for the powers.
The shadow policing minister called the proposals, which Priti Patel is trying to force through, a “partisan power grab”, following human rights warnings from United Nations experts and parliamentary committees.
Sarah Jones told The Independent: “At no point have the police said they want or need these powers on the basis of noise, and it would be very serious if ministers were trying to mislead the public into thinking they did..."
(...)
The Metropolitan Police, which hosts the vast majority of large demonstrations that could be affected by the law, said it did “not request the legal change on noise”.
The NPCC’s lead on public order told parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights that police chiefs had asked for a “lower, broader threshold” for imposing conditions but not a law relating to noise specifically.
Paddy Tipping, then the chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), has said the changes were not needed. On policing protests, he said that decisions should be left to local police chiefs."
Source: The Independent, 15 June 2021
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