Police seize ‘Stop Brexit’ protester’s speakers hours after new Tory law takes force

33 comments
  1. > But the spokesman defended the law, saying: “The government has changed laws so **dangerous criminals get the sentences they deserve and are kept behind bars for longer**. You’ll have seen the range of sentencing rules that come into force today.”

    Staggeringly chilling. Hopefully Starmer will vow to overturn this authoritarian nightmare of a law the second he gets into power.

  2. But the UK is nothing like those despotic autocratic regimes who squash dissent towards their rule…I mean we’re not slaughtering protestors on the streets or hacking journalists lured into British Embassies. It’s all good man.

  3. Death of democracy in real-time – unlimited fine or 6 months in jail for “noisy” protests, to be determined by the infamously lenient & reasonable Priti Patel.

    This is a law that will be applied rigorously and without compassion towards any politically inconvenient protests, any that have even the slightest chance of making real change. (Note – you won’t see it used on anti-trans protests, but pro? Bring a fucking lawyer)

    Just another barrier between the ruling class and those of us to whom the rules apply.

  4. It’s not so much the ruling but how it’s clearly going to be politically abused. Stop brexit? Strike picket? Anti corruption? Lock them up…

    We saw how the police managed a far right protect to the Sarah everard vigil. That’s the scary thing. You can have protest in China…just some are allowed and others get you the same sentence as this bill!

  5. Laws, arbitrary agreements made by people who are not you and applied to people who are not them.

  6. You can get 10 years for defacing a statue but the average sentence served for raping a child is 7 years. Brought to you by the government that doesn’t think houses need to be habitable, that people should have access to food, that rivers shouldn’t have sewage in them, that concentration camps are great and that everyone ought to freeze to death rather than making energy companies make a bit less profit.

  7. Do any tories still think their party cares about freedom of speech?

    I mean right now a university can be fined if they say stop a climate change denier for hire from speaking at a university climate forum (assuming a single person invited them) but its perfectly fine for the PM to stop The Times from publishing an article about him or for the police to silence a single person from speaking through a tannoy.

  8. I think this is just one of those laws that has to be ignored. If the police try to use force to break up peaceful protests then they need to be burdened under almost constant litigation. It needs to be seen to be defeated or you’ll end up with non-peaceful demonstrations.

    A couple of years of people getting desocialised due to the pandemic, obvious reduction in living standards due to inflation and wage stagnation, even more obvious when you go to the supermarket or try to plan a holiday. Now we’re having the unions cursed like they’re nazis for not welcoming longer hours for less pay, and you can’t even protest about it within sight of anybody in government.

    They’re almost asking for it to kick off, probably to justify the draconian laws they’ve so far slipped past due to frightening old biddies about brown children with knives. Oh yeah and we’ve still got the roll out of suspicion-less stop and search to come, not to mention round two and onwards of the Rwanda deportations.

    I could probably keep going all day but it is so much like a textbook explanation of why something kicked off already that I am really starting to believe in narrative imperative. And the author wants to be the next Orwell.

  9. That’s ridiculous.

    What next? Investigating comedians for jokes?

    Arresting people for Tweets?

    Fucking politicians. Can’t trust any of them.

  10. As a foreigner i never thought I would see this headline on UK news…. Where’s freedom of speech n opinion??

  11. >First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
    >
    >Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.
    >
    >Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
    >
    >Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

    — Martin Niemöller

  12. The people in charge care more about policing dissenting voices than actual crime.

    What a waste of police time and resources, not to mention authoritarian.

  13. At this rate, the UK will be indistinguishable from Russia in 20 years.

    Locking up protesters? Check

    Locking up political dissidents? Check

    Massive, open government corruption? Check

    State and media working together to spread propaganda? Check

    Rules don’t apply to government and ruling class? Check

    Spiralling cost of living caused by government incompetence? Check

    Rising nationalism and national exceptionalism? Check

    All that’s missing are assassinations, invasions, and Pelmini.

  14. Fascists. Simple and obvious. We are run by fascists. Fuck them. They are our downfall. Film related pun intended.

  15. Well, it’s official. The UK no longer believes in free speech, and everyone was worried about the leftie wokie “no platform” campus bans when all the while they should have been worrying about the far-right neo-fascists they voted in!

  16. Too fucking busy to do the job they’re paid for, but more than enough time and resources to turn up 15-strong to harass a peaceful protestor.

  17. Hitler gained plenary powers in March from the Enabling Act of 1933, which gave him the ability to act without limitations from the Reichstagor the German Constitution. Once Hitler had these dictatorial powers, he eliminated civil liberties and opportunities for opposition. Political parties that were not Nazi parties were made illegal in July.

  18. DW everyone boris said trans women are not women so concentrate on that so the Tories can pass authoritarianism!!!!!

    /s

  19. So today, just as the police gain new powers to arrest anyone who’s being slightly inconvenient, the Metropolitan Police are ruled to be incapable of running themselves, structurally corrupt, and in need of supervised reform.

    Christ on a bike.

  20. UK really looks like 2010`s Turkey now and it is really scary. Worse thing is, once they start doing these, they don`t stop.

  21. Everything the right say about the left is put projection. They claim the left hate free speech and cancel culture but then vote tories who exactly that.

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