PSPOs • Take action!

In support of PSPO reform petition

A petition has been published on the UK Parliament website calling for the review and reform of Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs). The petition states: We believe that local authorities are unfairly implementing Public Space Protections Orders that adversely impact dog owners, cyclists, bikers and others, without adequate consultation or consideration of the impact of these orders. The Government should review reform the rules for creating PSPOs, so the intention of an order has to be set out clearly in the consultation survey, consultations must have a minimum response within a certain time period, and evidence must be produced to support the…

Blog • Coronavirus

The inhumanity of ‘track and trace’

I received an email from the chairman of 2020 Voice Cancer charity, regarding the treatment of one of his older supporters while on a visit to the seaside. An elderly man, using his mobility scooter, for the reason that he has a terminal cancer which has badly affected his ability to walk, was most grateful to arrive at a waterfront bar. He switched off his scooter, disembarked, with walking stick, and entered: he was desperate to use the toilet which was situated just inside the door and to the left. Having got half way to said toilets he was yelled at by…

Coronavirus

Manifesto Club statement on the Rule of 6

MPs today vote on the ‘Rule of 6’ – the limitation on gathering in groups of more than six people. We urge you to email your MP and express your opposition to this statutory instrument. The Manifesto Club statement on this law is below… The UK government’s ban on people meeting in groups larger than six is draconian, undemocratic, and unreasonable. The law makes it a crime for a family of five to meet their grandparents. It criminalises five-a-side football matches and would ban everything from extended family Christmases to children’s birthday parties. It even makes ‘mingling’ into a crime. We have…

Coronavirus • Free speech • Take action!

Scrap the Rule of 6 – Bring Back Democracy

The UK government has brought through 247 legal orders that have imposed the most dramatic restrictions on our liberties ever. Most of these ‘statutory instruments’ were published only minutes before they came into force. There was no parliamentary discussion or vote. 34 orders were not even laid before parliament before they came into force. This government by decree must end. Current measures include: A ban on people meeting in groups of more than six – across the UK. Local lockdown bans on people in meeting up indoors with people from other households – in areas including Scotland, North-East England (from Wednesday), Birmingham,…

Coronavirus • Public space

Covid Marshals – The latest yellow-jacketed busybody

The government has announced a new band of ‘Covid marshals’, to patrol Britain’s streets and ensure that no-one is breaking social distancing rules. They will remind people to keep a two-metre distance, enforce one-way pavements, and break up groups of more than six. The Local Government Association (LGA) and police were critical of the announcement, because it has not been costed, nor the wardens given proper powers. But in fact, these institutions – and a whole class of officials – are entirely ready for this development. There is, ready and waiting, a class of wardens absolutely primed for this role. This is…

Blog • Coronavirus • Free speech

Against the ‘rule of 6’ – or 8, or 10…

The prime minister has announced that it will be illegal to meet in groups of more than six people from Monday. Many (including apparently most of the cabinet) have argued that children should be exempt, while others argued for a ceiling of eight people. Yet there is a bigger problem with the state engineering of social life in this manner. Time after time, statutory instruments are issued specifying the exact combinations in which people may meet: two households, or up to 30 people, or support bubbles for single-adult households. It then becomes a criminal offence to go beyond the specifications of the…

Coronavirus • Free speech

After 10k fine for protesting, is the right of association dead?

A summary penalty of £10,000 was handed out to Piers Corbyn, for his part in organising a protest against Coronavirus measures in London. The fine was issued under a Statutory Instrument – SI no. 907, or ‘The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions on Holding of Gatherings and Amendment) (England) Regulations 2020’ – which by suspicious coincidence was introduced two days before the rally was due to be held. The instrument was introduced by the health secretary, without parliamentary vote or discussion, and makes it a criminal offence for a person to organise a gathering of more than 30 people in public places or…

Coronavirus • Take action!

Monitoring civil liberties in the lockdown

We are experiencing the most overwhelming restriction on civil liberties that has ever occurred in peacetime. This is an exceptional situation, but the use of state power still needs to be checked and scrutinised. The Manifesto Club is collaborating with the Freedom Law Clinic to monitor the overzealous or unreasonable enforcement of coronavirus regulations. We will be running online seminars for law students and producing a briefing document. If you have experienced unreasonable police enforcement, or have an incident to report, please do get in touch.  

Blog • Coronavirus

Why shouldn’t people sunbathe?

Brockwell Park in London was closed after what Lambeth council called ‘unacceptable behaviour’ by residents at the weekend. The problem, said the council, was ‘sunbathing’, which went against the ‘clear advice’ from the government about the ‘essential reasons’ for which you may leave your home. The sunbathers came in for much flack on social media, where they were called ‘selfish idiots’ (and worse), who are risking lives and killing others. Sunbathers in #BrockwellPark about to get catch! Exercise🏃🏾‍♂️🏃🏾‍♀️🏋️‍♀️🚴🏻‍♀️ or #StayHomeSaveLives #Lambeth #Brixton pic.twitter.com/W8aZvUNAm7 — Juanne Fuller (@SouthActonGirl) April 4, 2020 But really? As one tweeter pointed out, the 3000 people in Brockwell…

Blog • Coronavirus

Police should not be allowed to suspend quality of life

There are a worrying number of examples of the police going out of their way to impose needless restrictions upon people, under the guise of the Coronavirus threat. These include – – One man on Facebook reported that police were shouting with megaphones at a couple sitting on a park bench, telling them to move on. They were allowed to walk or run in the park, apparently, but not sit. – Footage of police ordering people off Shepherd’s Bush Green, where they had been lying in scattered pairs or family groups, saying ‘it’s not a holiday, it’s a lockdown’. – Derbyshire Police…

Blog • Free speech

Defending basic rights in lock-down Germany

Guest post by Sabine Beppler, Berlin. The German historian Dr René Schlott has launched an initiative called ‘Grundgesetz a casa’ (constitution at home). He writes: Many of our basic rights as citizens have been severely restricted, and it is frightening to see how fast we can get used to this. Though forced to stay at home, he calls on people to defend their basic rights. ‘Grundgesetz a casa’ hopes that as many people as possible will join the campaign. They can do this by reading out an article from the German constitution (Basic Law), explaining why it must be defended. People who don’t…