he man known as “Stop Brexit Steve” could be silenced under the controversial new policing bill, Sadiq Khan warned today.
The Mayor of London said the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill currently going through Parliament could mean protesters such as ardent remainer Steve Bray were criminalised.
He has since picked up a microphone and speaker and was filmed apparently yelling at the PM as he got out of his car in Whitehall this week: “BORIS JOHNSON! PROTESTING RIGHTS –THEY’RE OUR RIGHTS! THEY’RE NOT YOURS TO TAKE!”
However, the mammoth new policing bill contains clauses that critics argue could silence protesters such as Mr Bray. The bill includes a clause to give police the power to impose any conditions they see fit on a one-person protest to avoid “disruption or impact” as well as the powers to set noise limits.
Asked if Mr Bray would be criminalised by the bill, the Mayor told LBC: “It could do because he’s quite loud. Without a doubt the suffragettes would have been. He’s very loud. He would be.
“I’m regularly heckled, it is a nuisance, it’s a pain but that’s one of the joys of living in a democracy. We’ve got to be a bit careful, it’s a slippery slope.”
The bill’s aim is to apply existing rules for marches to “static” gatherings after protest groups such as Extinction Rebellion were able to bring parts of central London to a standstill.
However, scenes of officers handcuffing women and dragging them from the crowd at a vigil for Sarah Everard in Clapham Common on Saturday prompted fierce opposition to the bill, with Labour voting against the legislation at its second reading.
The Mayor added: “It increases the powers of the Home Secretary of the day and it increases the powers of the police. It outlaws certain types of protest for example if they are too loud.
“Any of us who have studied history books will know that protests in previous decades – including in this year – which were perfectly peaceful and lawful have been allowed. It could give the Home Secretary grounds to label those protests a certain way and the police to take powers and also the sentences have also been increased. I’m concerned about the legislation.”
Asked if he would vote for it if he were still an MP, he replied: “No I wouldn’t. I’d have voted against it. Not least because some of the powers are I think being given to politicians and the police are disproportionate but also this bill was an opportunity to add in legislation that we desperately need to address the issue of male violence against women and girls.”
Boris Johnson has criticised Labour’s opposition to the bill, calling it “crazy”. The Prime Minister said the bill includes new measures to toughen sentences for rapists, stop the early release of serious sexual and violent offenders and a toughening up of the law on domestic violence.
During Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Mr Johnson said: “Until women feel they are being heard and their voices are being heard and their complaints are being addressed by society, we will not fix this problem.
“I warmly welcome what [Sir Keir] suggests about wanting to fix it together and I hope that in that spirit he can bring himself to vote for the tougher sentences that we have set out.”
