Public Order Bill

It is by being a nuisance that these protestors get.their message across. Irritating? Yes. Effective? Yes. Valid cause? In my opinion, yes.

The protests are to bring the approaching calamity of climate change to everyone's notice, even those who deny that there is a problem.

maddyone

Maizie the protesters have criminally damaged shops, car sales showrooms, and I think hotels. These are not government buildings; they are businesses. It is criminal damage. I don’t agree with criminal activities.

A lot has been done in the UK to counter climate change and we are working in the quite near future towards net zero.

Perhaps the protesters would like to protest in China, Russia, or America. These are the big polluters, not the UK. I wonder how they’d get on there! Our emissions are already very low anyway, but we’re not complacent, as shown by our net zero target.

Anyway, whatever, I don’t agree with criminal activities and so I will never be an admirer of these people or their tactics.

Just because the government tell us how well we're doing in the UK, that doesn't make it true. In the macro things, which is what matters, we're going backwards. A new coal mine, more oil and gas exploration licences, tax breaks for companies who search for more oil, missed targets in reducing road traffic...

The protesters demonstrate here because that's where they live. That's such a fatuous argument. Our emissions are not "very low". And even if they were, as I've said before, so what? Climate change won't stop at our borders just because lots of us recycle our waste.

Targets are great. We have to meet them though.

I agree you didn't use the word "woke" maddyone, that's why I put it in inverted commas.

The people who carry out these protests are generally arrested and charged. What I see here, is people wanting them dealt with quicker, immediately and with violence, I believe, so preventing any disruption. The point is disruption, that's why they do it.

As for being angry if my home/business was targetted, of course I'd be angry. The reason we have a criminal justice system is that no matter how angry someone is, that isn't what decides what a person's punishment should be.

Additionally it is a criminal offence to block a public highway, in other words, a road. As I said, I don’t agree with criminal activities.

Maizie the protesters have criminally damaged shops, car sales showrooms, and I think hotels. These are not government buildings; they are businesses. It is criminal damage. I don’t agree with criminal activities.

A lot has been done in the UK to counter climate change and we are working in the quite near future towards net zero.

Perhaps the protesters would like to protest in China, Russia, or America. These are the big polluters, not the UK. I wonder how they’d get on there! Our emissions are already very low anyway, but we’re not complacent, as shown by our net zero target.

Anyway, whatever, I don’t agree with criminal activities and so I will never be an admirer of these people or their tactics.

maddyone

It would be nice if the police removed protesters from preventing other people from going to work, school, hospital, or whenever their lawful business is, and prevented protesters from destroying buildings or other property. I believe we already have the laws to do this but the police choose not to act all too often. Protesters have the right to protest enshrined in law, but they do not have the right to criminally destroy property or prevent other people from going about their lawful business. Yesterday protesters were swiftly removed when they attempted to climb the Downing Street gates, but they’re not swiftly removed when spraying paint on other people’s property or blocking the roads and so preventing people from going about their business. We don’t need more laws, we need more police action.

Absolutely maddyone
Protesting peaceably is a right, but not being a public nuisance, destroying property or preventing access.
Marching or holding a protest in a public space can be done without that.
The Met have proved themselves hopeless many times for many reasons .

maddyone

Maizie do you approve of people engaging in illegal activities? If someone was throwing paint all over my house, car, or business (not that I have a business) I would be extremely upset and expect the police to charge the offender. Would you not feel the same?

They're not doing that, though, are they maddyone?

They're concentrating on government and financial institutions to draw attention to the fact that very little is being done by them to counter climate change. Change that has huge negative implications for their futures and the futures of their children.

Buildings can be cleaned up. The world burning up, with all the terrible implications it has for humanity, isn't quite so easy to rectify. I cannot condemn them.

I've just read up on this Bill on the government website and I can't see any problems, I hope it goes through.

maddyone

Maizie do you approve of people engaging in illegal activities? If someone was throwing paint all over my house, car, or business (not that I have a business) I would be extremely upset and expect the police to charge the offender. Would you not feel the same?

If the little tykes (I am being polite) were to block access to our business or spray paint our frontage I would be extremely angry and exceptionally grateful that we have every nook and cranny covered by CCTV.

I would expect them to be charged with the appropriate offences.

volver

maddyone

It would be nice if the police removed protesters from preventing other people from going to work, school, hospital, or whenever their lawful business is, and prevented protesters from destroying buildings or other property. I believe we already have the laws to do this but the police choose not to act all too often. Protesters have the right to protest enshrined in law, but they do not have the right to criminally destroy property or prevent other people from going about their lawful business. Yesterday protesters were swiftly removed when they attempted to climb the Downing Street gates, but they’re not swiftly removed when spraying paint on other people’s property or blocking the roads and so preventing people from going about their business. We don’t need more laws, we need more police action.

The police act according to the law. I find this demonisation of the police worrying. They can't just accost protestors because they are annoying.

Do you sincerely think they stand aside because they are too "woke" to apply the law?

Have a look at the riot police in Dundee if you think the police are skiving off from their responsibilities.

Apparently there is a trial case knocking around regarding protesters blocking roads. I will attempt to précis what I heard on the news the other morning, didn’t catch the chaps name, he was an ex Police Inspector.

They can be forcibly removed if they are causing an immediate considerable threat to life .

So if there were to be an ambulance, fire engine, paramedic who needed access to where the demonstrators were blocking the Police would remove them immediately. Here is where it gets tricky, if they have glued themselves to the road then immediate removal is not possible and they can be charged with a greater offence .

The protesters in the trial case are arguing that there is always another road/way to get to their destination, so they are not causing a considerable threat

The state is arguing that any delay could cause a considerable threat to life

I am not a lawyer, but even I can see the police are in a difficult situation and understand somewhat why they are hesitant to remove the protesters immediately.

I understand that we should be phasing out fossil fuel, but I have no sympathy with the wanton damage or disruption to many peoples lives that the Stop Oil folks are causing .

Maizie do you approve of people engaging in illegal activities? If someone was throwing paint all over my house, car, or business (not that I have a business) I would be extremely upset and expect the police to charge the offender. Would you not feel the same?

I haven’t used the word woke volver as well you know. I don’t disagree with you Maizie. However I would like to see more action from the police in stopping illegal activities such as damaging buildings or property, and removing people who are preventing others from going about their legal activities. If protesters can be removed from the gates of Downing Street quickly, they can also be removed from other places quickly. The few protesters who have been charged and went to court were involved in illegal activities, that’s why they were charged. I agree with legal, peaceful protests and peaceful protests are legal and allowed. There is no need to change the law because the law is already available to be used when there are breaches. The law simply needs to be applied.

maddyone

It would be nice if the police removed protesters from preventing other people from going to work, school, hospital, or whenever their lawful business is, and prevented protesters from destroying buildings or other property. I believe we already have the laws to do this but the police choose not to act all too often. Protesters have the right to protest enshrined in law, but they do not have the right to criminally destroy property or prevent other people from going about their lawful business. Yesterday protesters were swiftly removed when they attempted to climb the Downing Street gates, but they’re not swiftly removed when spraying paint on other people’s property or blocking the roads and so preventing people from going about their business. We don’t need more laws, we need more police action.

The police act according to the law. I find this demonisation of the police worrying. They can't just accost protestors because they are annoying.

Do you sincerely think they stand aside because they are too "woke" to apply the law?

Have a look at the riot police in Dundee if you think the police are skiving off from their responsibilities.

Perhaps we need more action on climate change, maddyone. Then they'd stop doing what you disapprove of.

It would be nice if the police removed protesters from preventing other people from going to work, school, hospital, or whenever their lawful business is, and prevented protesters from destroying buildings or other property. I believe we already have the laws to do this but the police choose not to act all too often. Protesters have the right to protest enshrined in law, but they do not have the right to criminally destroy property or prevent other people from going about their lawful business. Yesterday protesters were swiftly removed when they attempted to climb the Downing Street gates, but they’re not swiftly removed when spraying paint on other people’s property or blocking the roads and so preventing people from going about their business. We don’t need more laws, we need more police action.

The whole bill is a nonsense and cannot be justified and far from "the public support this" they only support the locking-on element.
If you read the YouGov poll it's clear that the response is divided.

yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2022/03/16/policing-bill-britons-support-proposed-new-police-

Personally I think we already have enty of laws and restrictions and not enough well trained police.
This is another way we are losing our freedoms.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-order-bill-overarching-documents/public-order-bill-factsheet

This goes into detail of the proposals and rationale behind the thinking.