London, 15th\u00a0April 2026\u00a0\u2013\u00a0The UK Government\u2019s\u00a0passing of\u00a0the cumulative impact amendment to the Crime and Policing bill\u00a0is\u00a0a draconian and\u00a0dangerous\u00a0crackdown on the rights to freedom of expression and assembly across Britain.\u00a0The government\u2019s\u00a0amendment is\u00a0intentionally vague and purposefully disruptive to the\u00a0organising of peaceful\u00a0assembly, and will particularly\u00a0affect\u00a0\u00a0pro-Palestine protests.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In January, the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP)\u00a0joined fellow civil society organisations<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0defending the fundamental right to protest in the UK and opposing the government\u2019s targeted crackdown on civil liberties.\u00a0The passing of this amendment now means that once the Crime and Policing bill becomes law, police in England and Wales will\u00a0be required\u00a0to consider any past protests or planned future protests in the same \u2018area\u2019 when deciding whether to impose restrictions. The size of an \u2018area\u2019 is not specified, and police\u00a0are not required to\u00a0take into account\u00a0whether the protests are for the same cause or involve the same people.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The bill\u00a0is designed to disproportionately target pro-Palestine protests and affords\u00a0police in England and Wales the power to carry out\u00a0inordinate measures against peaceful protestors. The bill is part of\u00a0a wider pattern of democratic backsliding under the\u00a0previous\u00a0government and this Labour\u00a0Government and\u00a0is just the latest\u00a0piece of legislation to hinder our right to protest\u00a0in the UK.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The list is endless: the\u00a0Police Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, the\u00a0Public Order Act 2023, the proscription of Palestine Action in 2025,\u00a0the Metropolitan Police\u2019s banning of certain pro-Palestine chants, and now this horrific amendment to an already problematic bill. It is an Orwellian masterclass of normalisation of criminalising dissent.\u00a0<\/p>\n While the government\u00a0remains\u00a0remarkably out of touch with the British public on Palestine, their cynical\u00a0and repeated attempts to silence those who demand greater accountability for the UK\u2019s complicity in Israel\u2019s ongoing crimes is a draconian\u00a0erosion of\u00a0fundamental\u00a0British\u00a0freedoms.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00d3rlaith\u00a0Roe, ICJP\u2019s Public Affairs and Communications Officer, said:\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly in the UK\u00a0is not a privilege bestowed by the government. It is a fundamental and core pillar of civil liberties in Britain, and this Labour Government\u2019s\u00a0wilful erosion of those rights marks a dark\u00a0and concerning attempt to\u00a0undermine these vital freedoms and\u00a0silence\u00a0its detractors\u00a0who protest peacefully, justly,\u00a0and\u00a0fairly.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n ENDS\u00a0<\/p>\n Notes for Editors:\u00a0<\/p>\n The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians is an independent organisation of lawyers, politicians and academics who support the rights of Palestinians and aim to protect their rights through the law.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n For more information, to arrange an interview with a spokesperson, please contact the ICJP news desk at\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n