The home secretary’s plans to allow the police to impose conditions on protests based on cumulative disruption are problematic in several ways (Civil liberty groups express concern over plan for more anti-protest powers, 5 October). Similar proposals were voted down by the House of Lords as a late amendment at report stage of the public order bill in January 2023. It is unlikely that their lordships will be any more welcoming of these plans this time.
First, the announcement came only a few days after the closure of an invitation-only consultation; the speed indicates an already made-up mind. Second, part of the case for expansion of powers is the need to deal with protests that intimidate local people in an area, yet the power to impose conditions on the basis of planned intimidation has existed in public order law since 1986.
