Home secretary wants police to get more powers to restrict repeated protests

The government has announced that police will be given permission to put conditions on repeat demonstrations, a day after nearly 500 protesters were arrested. The Home Office said senior officers would be able to consider the cumulative effects of previous demonstrations, which may include orders from organisers to stage protests elsewhere if a site has seen repeated demonstrations. Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, told the BBC that the move was not a ban on protests but rather "about limits and conditions. After two men were killed in an assault at a synagogue in Manchester, the protesters, against Palestine Action being a proscribed terror group, were advised to postpone them.

With officers around the country providing more assistance to hundreds of synagogues and Jewish community websites, police forces warned that funds would be stretched. The new powers will be brought forward as soon as possible, the Home Office said. There needs to be a risk of serious public disorder right now, if police are to prohibit a march completely. However, police could place restrictions such as demanding that it be held elsewhere or the duration of the demonstrations where repeated demonstrations have occurred. Mahmood said that although the right to protest is fundamental,

this freedom must be balanced with the right of their neighbors to live their lives without fear. Large, repeated demonstrations may force communities of the country, particularly religious ones,

feeling unsafe, threatened, and afraid to leave their homes.

This had been particularly apparent in the Jewish community recently, she said. Laura Kuenssberg said she was

very worried about the state of community relations in our country.

I know I, as the home secretary, have a responsibility to consider the steps the government can take to improve our communities'' wellbeing and ensure people are well integrated into our society,

she said. According to the government, the home secretary would conduct a review of existing protest laws to

ensure that powers are appropriate and being followed consistently. According to the government, this would include the ability to prohibit outright demonstrations. Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, supported the new powers but wondered why it took so long, saying the government must show that it had Jewish people's backs.

We believe in free expression, but it must be within the boundaries of the rule,

Kuenssberg told Kuenny, "if demonstrations are used to intimidate, to incite hatred, it is not protest.

I think just because you have a freedom doesn't mean you have to use it at every moment of every day,

Mahmood said. Many people may have waited a day or two and allowed them to mourn and process what has happened. Max Wilkinson, a Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson, said the move would be the worst of all worlds if not combating antisemitic hate but also undermine the

fundamental right to peaceful protest. The majority of those detained at protests on Saturday were arrested on suspicion of supporting the banned group Palestine Action. Defend Our Juries said around 1,000 protesters protested the group's ban and condemned Israel's activities in Gaza. Following the Home Office's announcement on demonstrations, the organization denied accusations of

silencing oppositionandauthoritarianism

on social media. Hundreds of people have been arrested since the group was outlawed by former home secretary Yvette Cooper in the summer, predominantly for posting signs indicating that they endorse Palestine Action. Following the 2023 Hamas attack, Israel has denied that its activities in Gaza constitute genocide and that its actions are justified as a means of self-defense. But last month, the world's top genocide scholars said that Israel's behavior contradicts the UN convention on genocides' legal definition. Human rights group Amnesty International said detaining people for

fully sitting down and holding these signs

was not a job for the police. The powers, the charity said on Sunday, were

a reheat" of a move by the previous Conservative government that had been found unlawful by the courts. The move, according to Tom Southerden, its UK law and human rights director, had no connection to Saturday's marches, which had taken place in a new location.

Following the murder of two men at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue on Yom Kippur, the Jewish religious calendar's holiest day, the protesters, Defend Our Juries, had been asked to reconsider their plans. However, the organisers said in a tweet that it wished police

choose to prioritize defending the public from real terrorism rather than waste money on enforcing the ridiculous and ridiculous ban on Palestine Action. There was

no doubtsome protesters wereviolent antisemites sparked hatred,

according to Tory MP and Minister Dame Penny Mordaunt, who co-wrote a cross-party study on antisexism, while Conservative Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen said they were

useful idiots Lucy Powell, a Labour MP, called for a tougher regulatory system to prevent antisemitism online, where she said the outbreak was unprecedented. Jihad Al-Shamie turned a vehicle into people outside a synagogue in Manchester, killing Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz. Al-Shamie then attempted to force his way into the building before being shot by armed police. Three others were injured in the attack. Several arrests have been made in connection with the assault, and Mahmood said four people were still in jail on Sunday morning. Following Thursday's attack, the home secretary would write to chief constables on Sunday to encourage them to use all of their powers to prevent and respond to public disorder, as well as thanking them for their response. According to the home office, police forces are working with the Community Security Trust, a charity that helps Jewish people flee terror and antisemitism, in order to reassure the Jewish community. The Board of Deputies of British Jews is staging a commemoration on Sunday, ahead of the second anniversary of the 7 October attacks in southern Israel, which killed nearly 1,200 people and left 251 others dead and 251 more were taken hostage. The company has praised the government's decision to increase police powers and characterized recent demonstrations as "deeply irresponsible and offensive.