The United Kingdom is proposing a legislative amendment that will expand police powers, increasing their authority to clamp down on protests and civil demonstrations as perceived necessary. 

This bill, covering England and Wales, would empower officers to squelch what it describes as a “disruptive minority” who take to the streets to express displeasure using tactics like blocking roads and marching slowly. 

The proposal, an amendment to the existing Public Order Bill, will be introduced on Monday. 

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has expressed support for the bill. He argued that protests conducted by a small minority could not disrupt the general serenity of the public. 

“The right to protest is a fundamental principle of our democracy, but this is not absolute. A balance must be struck between the rights of individuals and the rights of the hard-working majority to go about their day-to-day business,” stated Mr Sunak.

The British prime minister added, “We cannot have protests conducted by a small minority disrupting the lives of the ordinary public. It’s not acceptable, and we’re going to bring it to an end.” 

Director of human rights group Liberty, Martha Spurrier, has condemned the proposed amendments as a desperate attempt to shut down “any route for ordinary people to make their voices heard.”

According to Ms Spurrier, shutting down protests before a disruption occurs sets a “dangerous precedent.”

Former Liberty director and Labour peer Shami Chakrabarti warned that police already have the authority to detain those obstructing motorways and that the government’s proposed changes would give them “a blank cheque.”

“This, I fear, is about treating all peaceful dissent as effectively terrorism,” said Ms Chakrabarti. “This degree of pre-emption will basically shut down the kind of dissent that isn’t even causing disruption at all because their definition will set such a low bar.”