Rishi Sunak – 2023 Comments on the Right to Protest

The comments made by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, on 16 January 2023.

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.

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.

The police asked us for more clarity to crack down on these guerrilla tactics, and we have listened.