PRESS RELEASE : Police given clarity to act quickly on disruptive slow marching [June 2023]
The press release issued by the Home Office on 14 June 2023.
Home Secretary delivers on government pledge to support the police to tackle disruptive slow marching protest tactics.
A clearer definition of ‘serious disruption’ will stop slow marching protesters causing hours of delay and distress to the public from tomorrow (15 June).
This will further clarify existing public order laws to help the police respond to new highly disruptive protest tactics like slow marching.
156 of these highly disruptive protests have taken place in London since April. While the right to peaceful protest remains a cornerstone of our democracy, causing traffic to halt, delaying people getting to work and distracting the police from fighting crime will not be tolerated.
Police officers can now assess the cumulative impact of protests on the community over a period of time, rather than treating each incident in isolation. This will give officers the authority to move quickly and firmly to stop this campaign of disruption, ensuring Londoners, commuters and tourists can move freely around the capital without delay.
A handful of protestors have swallowed up almost 13,770 police shifts, deliberately burdening police time and keeping officers from our neighbourhoods where they are really needed.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman said:
The public are sick of Just Stop Oil’s selfish and self-defeating actions, which achieve nothing towards their cause.
Chief Constables and I agree that police officers should be out fighting crime. They shouldn’t be forced to stand by as protestors block our roads and the public shouldn’t have to take matters in their own hands.
This new definition of serious disruption means police can stop slow marchers, to reclaim our right to get to work, hospital and go about our daily lives.
Chief Constable BJ Harrington, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for public order and public safety said:
Our priority is always to keep people safe and in every decision around policing public order and protests we must balance the right to freedom of expression with the right to tackle crime so we can ensure public safety. Policing is not anti-protest, but we are anti-crime.
We welcome clearer definition of serious disruption provided by parliament in this statutory instrument as this will help officers to take proportionate action when it is necessary.
The law has been amended today and will take effect from tomorrow. It comes following scrutiny and approval by the House of Commons and Lords, empowering officers to take action swiftly and spend more time protecting our communities.
The move supports the Public Order Act 2023, which brought in new criminal offences and proper penalties for disruptive protest acts such as locking on. Repeat offenders can be hit by the courts with a Serious Disruption Prevention Order, seeing them face six months in prison if they try to disrupt lives again.
