CIVICUS discusses the UK’s proposed Crime and Policing Bill with members of Liberty, the country’s largest civil liberties organisation, which campaigns for everyone to be treated fairly and with dignity and respect.
On 10 November, members of the House of Lords began a detailed examination of the Crime and Policing Bill at committee stage. Introduced by the government in February, the bill grants police extensive new powers to restrict protests, including provisions on face coverings, exclusion zones near places of worship and cumulative disruption from repeated demonstrations. Human rights organisations have condemned it as a serious threat to freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly, and warn it reflects a broader trend of the increasing restriction of civic space in the UK.
