The British Police of London (Reuters) will obtain powers to restrict the repeated protests held in the same place, said the government on Sunday, a day after the last pro -Palestinian demonstration went ahead despite the requests to cancel it following a deadly attack in a synagogue.
The new powers will allow senior police officers to consider the cumulative impact of previous protests in a local community, the Interior Ministry said.
“The right to protest is a fundamental freedom in our country. However, this freedom must be balanced with the freedom of its neighbors to live their lives without fear,” said Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood.
“Big and repeated protests can leave sections of our country, particularly religious communities, feel insecure, intimidated and scared of abandoning their homes,” Mahmood said, pointing out fears within the Jewish community.
On Saturday, the police arrested almost 500 people in downtown London during a protest in support of Palestine Action, a group that was prohibited in July after the members broke into an air base and damaged military planes.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer had urged the organizers to cancel the demonstration after the murder of two people in a synagogue in Manchester on Thursday in Yom Kippur, the most sacred day for the Jews.
Police killed the assailant shots, a British man of Syrian descent who, according to officials, may have been inspired by the extremist Islamist ideology.
The group behind Saturday’s protest said the plans for more powers to limit the demonstrations represented “a dangerous and authoritarian escalation” in an offensive against freedom of expression.
“We are announcing an important escalation … and we urge all our followers to register to demonstrate that we will not keep our fundamental rights eliminated,” said a spokesman to defend our jury.
The British Board of British Jews welcomed the government’s announcement, but said that more measures were needed to protect the Jewish community.
Mahmood must also review the existing powers of the police to ensure that they are sufficient and applied in a consistent manner, including powers to prohibit protests directly, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
(Write by William Schomberg; Jamie Freed and Tomasz Janowski) edition
(Tagstotranslate) Shabana Mahmood (T) British Police (T) Protests (T) Prime Minister Keir Starmer (T) Powers