Manifesto Club

Public space • Take action!

Campaign: Free speech under threat in town squares

A decade ago, anyone could set up a table in the town square and engage passers-by. Now, councils are replacing open public space with ‘event zones’ that must be booked and approved. Our new report found that out of 321 councils surveyed in England & Wales: Only 19 councils (8%) allowed genuinely informal campaigning without fees or prior vetting — the vast majority impose red-tape, fees, licensing or outright bans. How control works 1. ‘Licensed’ event spaces replace the public square Councils now designate specific locations as ‘events’ or ‘promotions’ zones, which people have to apply to use. Everywhere else is off-limits.…

Briefings • PSPOs

Lords debate hike in ‘busybody’ fines

Clause 4 of the Crime and Policing Bill includes a substantial increase in penalties for breach of Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPO) and Community Protection Notices (CPNs), from £100 to £500. The main result of this change will be more people getting massive fines for dubious non-offences such as having a messy garden, begging, standing in groups and ‘idling’. These penalties will be largely issued by dodgy private enforcement companies who are paid per fine. The Bill is now in the Lords, and two peers – Lord Tim Clement Jones and Baroness Claire Fox – have introduced Committee Stage amendments to remove…

CPN case studies

8-year battle for right to pray on the beach

We have been touch with Nigel and Sheila Jacklin since 2018, when they were issued with an order banning them from going to their local beach. The police have pursued cases against the Jacklins for the past 8 years, including two prosecutions alleging that Sheila’s gestures of Hindu prayer were ‘rude’ hand gestures. This must be one of the worst cases of police corruption that we have come across, in terms of the repeated and petty targeting of people over such a long time for their everyday actions. Here is an account by Nigel of the events of the past 8 years….…

Briefings

Crime and Policing Bill Briefing

The Crime and Policing Bill will introduce a swathe of liberty-robbing measures: it will create absurd new crimes, new blank-cheque powers, and out-of-proportion new penalties. Here is the Manifesto Club’s briefing in advance of the House of Lords Second Reading on 16 October, highlighting some parts of the Bill that are particularly concerning. Increase in fines for ‘busybody’ offences from £100 to £500 (Clause 4) Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) allow local authorities to ban particular activities in a particular area, if they believe that an activity is having a ‘detrimental effect on the quality of life’. Community Protection Notices (CPNs) can…

CPNs

Homeless woman imprisoned for 18 months for trying to sleep in the YMCA

The Manifesto Club has previously published reports by academics at the University of York and Coventry, which found that people are being imprisoned for anodyne actions such as feeding the birds or asking for 50p. These imprisonments were for breach of a Civil Injunction, a power contained in the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act. The Civil Injunction will soon be replaced by Respect Orders, currently passing through parliament; it is our view that Respect Orders will make such unjust imprisonments even more likely. One of the most striking cases in these previous reports was that of Ms Reilly, a homeless woman…

CPN case studies

Young deaf man banned from playing loud music

I have received an email from a man whose deaf son was issued with an order banning him from playing ‘loud amplified music’ from his property. The father says: My son lives in a house which we bought for him in 2019, it is a nice neighbourhood mainly made up of older people. My son is 30 years old and is deaf by birth; he wears a cochlear implant, and also has severe anxiety and diagnosed ADHD, both of which he takes medication for. He has received a warning letter and now a Community Protection Notice relating to ‘loud amplified music’, which he…

On-the-spot fines

£500 fine when letter blew out of bin

After the case of a man fined £500 for fly tipping when an envelope blew out of his bin, a similar thing has happened to a lady in Enfield. This case is even worse, however, since the council seems to be partly at fault for the incident. The lady’s bin had been broken – along with her neighbours’ bins – when a car crashed into the front garden in December, and the council failed to replace the bins for several months. In April, a letter that she had placed in her bin was found on the ground by enforcement agents, and she…

Privacy

Parking permit system intrudes on data privacy

This is a guest post by Brian Mooney, about why he is opposing his council’s new parking permit system. My council, Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F), has annoyed residents with its new parking permit system, with swingeing rises of up to 328%. To add insult to injury, the new system is online only. Permit renewal is not as easy as before – you have to enter all your data from scratch. It has also been controversially designed to require the uploading of a scan of a driving licence. The Data Protection Act works to the principle of data minimisation. This exists for good…

PSPOs

Peak District ban on stoves threatens youth outdoor activities

Two Peak District councils have introduced a blanket ban on the use of any ‘naked flame’. We received an email from a local walker, who is concerned that these orders will affect youth outdoor activities such as Duke of Edinburgh (who tend to carry small gas stoves), as well as warm-up stops for youth groups and conservation volunteers, and outdoor training in fire and stove use for children and adults. This is a matter of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. It is perfectly possible to use camping stoves safely, and this PSPO could have some very perverse unintended consequences. It…

CPN case studies

Pensioner banned from putting gender-critical posters on her front door

This is a testimony from a lady who was subjected to a one-year battle with her council because of posters she had put up on her front door. When the council approved of her posters, it gave her awards; when it disapproved, it issued legal orders against her and prepared to engage in three-day-long trials in order to defend its position. This shows how controversial political opinions can be classified as ‘anti-social behaviour’ and subject to criminal sanction. Facing a massive legal bill, the lady removed a particular poster, but remains unbowed and continues to use her door to promote the issues…