'Police are a disgrace!' Britons react to 'wish-washy woke' M25 protest response
“I didn't see any real effort put in to move them by force. I want my council tax refunded as it's obviously not being used for policing.”
Mr Liddell-Grainger backed 'much tougher sentences' for 'arrogant and stuck-up' climate anarchists who 'cause immense harm to people's lives and livelihoods'.
And many more comments
Obstruction of the HighwayHowever, there is also a right to peaceful protest
Section 137 of the Highways Act 1980 says that “if a person, without lawful authority or excuse, in any way wilfully obstructs the free passage along a highway he is guilty of an offence”. The penalty for this offence is a fine and not imprisonment.
Any occupation of a road is potentially an obstruction and a series of court cases have established a highway can include the grass verge at the side of a road, a footpath, an industrial estate, the pavement outside Parliament and, since the Occupy protests of 2012, parts of the churchyard at St Paul’s Cathedral.In examining ‘lawful excuse’, courts need to decide if an activity causing an obstruction is itself lawful and whether it is reasonable: in the case of a protest, taking into consideration Article 10 (freedom of expression) and Article 11 (freedom of assembly) of the ECHR. For example, the peace campaigner Brian Haw’s long-term protest in Parliament Square in London was found not to constitute an obstruction of the highway as it was deemed reasonable, bearing in mind his right to protest.
Freedom of speech and the right to protest peacefully are protected by both the common law and the Human Rights Act 1998.
Furthermore, the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights) as implied in Article 10 (the Right to Freedom of Expression) protects a right that’s fundamental to our democracy – freedom of expression – which means that we’re free to hold opinions and ideas and to share them with others without the state interfering. Article 11 (the Right to Peaceful Assembly) of the Human Rights Act 1998, meanwhile, allows for peaceful protest to take place without disturbance from authorities – unless of course any act of hostility or violence were to take place.
"Peaceful protest can only take place on public highways"
It's quite easy to see why the police were considering this before acting.
Now whilst I don't necessarily agree with blocking the M25 and being stuck on the M25 or any motorway for 3 hours isn't fun. We should be careful with the calls to remove the right to protest or fine people more heavily for protesting. It's a little picture big picture thing dating back to many 100s of years before the suffragettes in 1913. The government is already chipping away at these rights, so be careful what you wish for.
LINKS
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9992613/Eco-mob-block-M25-AGAIN.html
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/09/16/m25-protesters-blocking-motorway/amp/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/16144087/travel-chaos-eco-warriors-block-m25-second-time-2/
https://netpol.org/resources/common-criminal-offences/
https://www.daslaw.co.uk/blog/right-to-peaceful-protest
https://nationallegalservice.co.uk/uk-protest-rights/
