Resisting anti-protest measures

'Britain Yearly Meeting said the bill posed ‘a serious threat to civil liberties in the UK’ and briefed key parliamentarians in October.'

by Rebecca Hardy 6th January 2023

Friends lobbied hard against new ‘draconian’ laws which introduced unprecedented limits on the right to protest. Nevertheless Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) was ‘devastated’ when the House of Lords voted through the final measures of the controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill, despite their vociferous advocacy. The vote on 26 April meant that UK police now have unprecedented powers to restrict protests they deem ‘too noisy’. The verdict came one year after the bill was introduced and three months after back-and-forth between the House of Commons and the House of Lords.