First arrests under the New Police Act preventing freedom of speech

Totally missed this Whitewavemark2 but it doesn't sound good!

I am very very worried about the way the police have been acting on so called hate crimes, arresting elderly men in wheelchairs for anti woke speech. I think we need to examine why this gentleman in Oxford was arrested. It didn’t seem to be about free speech as such. I think even under the old laws he would have been arrested as the police find other laws to cover such events if they want to.

Very worrying, freedom to protest is being eroded.

As Oopsadaisy said, there's no point complaining and doing nothing.

It is all getting very worrying

Lord Butler on R4 talked about the corruption of our constitution by the replacing of loyal civil servants with political cronies
The Tories are destroying this country’s constitution.

I've lost count of the number of people who have said ts like living in Bloody North Korea ,the enforced mourning...you can go to work but dont do anything that bringsyou pleasure or even charty events .Dont give your opinion on a hereditay head of state and listen to mournful music or flk who give you the dry boak with their over the top remarks about a woman they didn't know who more than likely didn't know they existed !
There were a lot of people booing at the Mercat Cross in Edinburgh ,I doubt they had enough police vans to take them all away...and why should they isn't EVERY opinion valid .Its 2022 not 1707 when we were rode roughshod over

I share the concerns about free speech and deplore the new law - but I can also see how the security services are walking a fine line at the moment - I would not want to be trying to organise the security for all that is going on nationally at the moment. They have to make "of the moment" speedy decisions; but clearly should not have told him to be quiet.

I think it’s more a case of the Police not knowing who to arrest now. More education needed on their part.

It's not entirely clear if they were arrested specifically for just protesting or whether they committed a public order offence, which is usually a reason to stop disruption in any space. I'm sure brand-new King Charles will be displeased if it was for simply protesting as he's a firm believer in freedom of speech and free society I. What we all call our free country! Which it is so it's interesting as to what law has been broken?

rosie1959

Was this the 'lady' carrying a sign saying F### imperialism abolish the monarchy
Probably arrested for her own safety such sentiments would not have gone down well in the crowds yesterday

Obscene language! You can be arrested for having a teeshirt carrying swearing! True! Under section 5 of public order act ."considered to be an offence against public order" or in lay terms upsets some people with rude insulting words or images. This has always been so, maybe they should have checked they're lawful limits before blundering out Into public with swearing plastered all over the placards?

Oopsadaisy1

I signed petitions against this law being brought in, many didn’t bother.

Don’t complain if you just sat and did nothing.

Many of us lobbied MPs but in areas such as mine it's totally pointless.

I, too, signed the petition against this law . Some people hold views which are abhorrent to me. Providing that they do not invoke violence, I will defend to the death their right to declare them.

The young woman in Scotland has been charged, according to the Channel 4 news Twitter account.

Appalling.

I wrote to my MP, for all the good it might do.......

Certainly don't think anyone should be arrested, but to me, intruding on folk who are mourning is crass.
But the proclamation of a monarch is something to protest about!

From todays National.
TWO people who were arrested during the Accession Proclamation for the new King in Edinburgh have been charged. Police Scotland said a 22-year-old female has been charged after she was arrested outside St Giles's Cathedral is due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court at a later date.
A 74-year-old man who was arrested in the vicinity of the Palace of Holyroodhouse in connection with a breach of the peace has also been charged and will appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday.
A force spokesperson said: “A 22-year-old woman was arrested outside St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh, on Sunday, September 11, in connection with a breach of the peace.
“She was charged and was released on an undertaking to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court at a later date.”

I think the answer to the Oxford man's question, "Who elected him?" is that tradition did. I realise this is not a strong argument and that some people won't 'get it', but I think the reason we've kept the monarchy is that we've effectively blunted any power they might once have had and made them into figureheads.

There is a place for national figureheads, I think. Currently (I've been an anti-monarchist in the past), my preference is for a monarchy like ours for the national figurehead rather then a presidential figure. It has an appeal of stability among other things.

Baggs

I think the answer to the Oxford man's question, "Who elected him?" is that tradition did. I realise this is not a strong argument and that some people won't 'get it', but I think the reason we've kept the monarchy is that we've effectively blunted any power they might once have had and made them into figureheads.

There is a place for national figureheads, I think. Currently (I've been an anti-monarchist in the past), my preference is for a monarchy like ours for the national figurehead rather then a presidential figure. It has an appeal of stability among other things.

But presumably you would not deny him his freedom to express his opinion?

TWO people who were arrested during the Accession Proclamation for the new King in Edinburgh have been charged. Police Scotland said a 22-year-old female has been charged after she was arrested outside St Giles's Cathedral is due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court at a later date.

As I understand it, she was holding a placard (a small one if the pics I saw were genuine) saying "Not my king". Hardly an arrestable offence but what I saw looked like a gentle moving on (presumably towards a police vehicle). She continued to hold up the placard and was not prevented from doing that by the police.

Being arrested for one's own protection probably doesn't hold water legally. Maybe she will be unarrested as well.

Whitewavemark2

Baggs

I think the answer to the Oxford man's question, "Who elected him?" is that tradition did. I realise this is not a strong argument and that some people won't 'get it', but I think the reason we've kept the monarchy is that we've effectively blunted any power they might once have had and made them into figureheads.

There is a place for national figureheads, I think. Currently (I've been an anti-monarchist in the past), my preference is for a monarchy like ours for the national figurehead rather then a presidential figure. It has an appeal of stability among other things.

But presumably you would not deny him his freedom to express his opinion?

Correct, wwm2.

Freedom of speech has been one of the good things about living in the UK. I am disgusted that the government is eroding our rights.
The police are tasked with keeping the peace and have to make decisions on the safety of all. I wasn't there when these incidents happened so don't know if the mood of the crowd changed and if they thought it may result in public disorder.
I believe that anyone has the right to say what they believe in but people are clearly emotional and it may have caused problems.

This man explains there was no public disorder he was only trying to express his opinion.

Here he explains what happened.

I was arrested after asking “who elected him?” at the proclamation of King Charles

I had not planned to protest today. To be honest, I’m tired and lacking in energy after not being well lately. And I am not some sort of heroic campaigner who rushes round resisting without rest. I am a lot less energetic and dedicated than some people seem to imagine!

I knew that Charles Windsor would be declared “King Charles III” in official ceremonies around the UK today. I had assumed they would be fairly small-scale. Yesterday, a good friend discouraged me from protesting because she was concerned about my health. I reluctantly agreed that she had a point.

It was only when I went to church this morning that I learnt that there was not only a proclamation in Oxford but a procession that would start just outside our church. I was feeling sad and angry as I left church and walked past the cordoned off streets and saw the dignitaries and military leaders standing on the steps of Carfax Tower in clothing more suited to the sixteenth century. This, apparently, is how we proclaim a new head of state in twenty-first century Britain.

bright-green.org/2022/09/11/i-was-arrested-after-asking-who-elected-him-at-the-proclamation-of-king-charles/

@RepublicStaff

We condemn these arrests in the strongest possible terms. Free speech is fundamental to any democracy. At a time when the media is saturated with fawning over a king appointed without discussion or consent, it is even more important.

We will be writing to the police forces concerned and the Met, raising these concerns. We intend to organise protests at the coronation and will expect those protests to be allowed to go ahead peacefully. #NotMyKing #AbolishTheMonachy

I’m pretty sure they would need police protection if that was attempted, they would be warned and if they persisted they would be arrested for “behavior likely to cause a breach of the peace”. In exactly the same way as Insulate Britain and Football hooligans get arrested.
Demonstrations and protests get denied and limited all the time

Don't protest.

Somebody else might get violent.

Best arrest you, just in case.

I find this really shocking, I wish could write something more profound but as a Mother a severely disabled child supported by our social care system, I need to be very careful about what I say as the system is very much set up to undermine you and if you don;t know your rights, you haven't got a leg to stand on and neither has your loved one. People not being able to say things about the royal family not being elected really is the tip of the iceberg. 'They' are coming after you now

So can I decide that the saying God save the king is so upsetting to me that people shouldnt say it in case there is violence. People need to realise that if they agree to restrictions on speech it applies to all speech not just the speech they agree with.

It wasn't a man who was arrested, was it Grany. A woman was arrested for Breach of the Peace (2010).

In Scottish law, you can be charged with breaching the peace if you engage in any kind of disorderly behaviour which would have a negative effect on other people who bore witness to it. You could get into trouble for things such as swearing or shouting, and the law extends to things like using or threatening with weapons, or sending messages which could be interpreted as being abusive.

Whether you are guilty is another thing.