UK to Introduce Limits on Protests After Synagogue Attack
Bloomberg (archive.ph)
By Shiyin Chen and Silas Brown
2025-10-05 10:01:46GMT
Police take a protestor into custody in London on Oct. 4. Photographer: Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu/Getty Images
UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will give police new powers to place limits on repeated protests and is considering legislation to ban them outright, after weeks of demonstrations led to mass arrests and strained resources.
The move comes a day after police arrested nearly 500 people in the latest protest in Trafalgar Square in support of the proscribed group, Palestine Action. Prime Minister Keir Starmer had earlier called on organizers to cancel Saturday’s event in the wake of last week’s attack on a Manchester synagogue, which took place on Yom Kippur — the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
“The right to protest is a fundamental freedom in our country,” Mahmood said in a statement Sunday. “However, this freedom must be balanced with the freedom of their neighbors to live their lives without fear.”
In the wake of the terrorist attack in Manchester, the Labour government is facing questions about whether it’s done enough to protect the Jewish community in the UK. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy was heckled at a vigil held in Manchester after the synagogue attack.
“I fully accept that people are grieving, they are upset and they want more from their government. They are justified in asking for more,” Mahmood said in an interview with the BBC on Sunday.
The UK government, which last month formally recognized Palestine as a state, is trying to get to grips with several large protest movements that have gathered steam across the country, including demonstrations against the unfolding situation in Gaza as well as protests against immigration policies. Although the marches have been mostly peaceful, opponents have complained about intimidation of passers-by and antisemitic banners and slogans.
In a separate interview with Sky News, Mahmood said that everyone should acknowledge the complexity of the situation the police are dealing with.
“We’ve had a number of near-misses around migrant hotels, a mosque was set on fire last night, we’ve had an anti-Semitic terrorist attack on UK soil as well,” she said.
Police will be given new powers to tell organizers of demonstrations that have taken place at the same site “for weeks on end, and caused repeated disorder” to move their events somewhere else, according to the statement, with offenders facing arrest and prosecution. The new powers will be brought forward as soon as possible, the government said.
Mahmood is also reviewing existing legislation to ensure that “powers are sufficient and being consistently applied,” including the ability to bar protests from taking place altogether.
Civil liberties groups and other non-profit organizations including Greenpeace UK have already begun pushing back against the proposed measures.
“The Home Secretary must immediately withdraw this dangerous step towards authoritarianism,” Will McCallum, Greenpeace UK’s co-executive director, said in a statement. “We are repeatedly told that the right to protest is ‘a cornerstone of our democracy’ and yet in the last few years it has been corroded to the point of collapse.”
(Updates with comments from Home Secretary)
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New police powers to protect communities from disruption caused by protests
GOV.UK (archive.ph)
By Home Office and The Rt Hon Shabana Mahmood MP
2025-10-05 09:40:04GMT
Police forces will be granted new powers to put conditions on repeat protests as the Home Secretary orders a fresh look at how protests are policed and organised.
The new powers, which will be brought forward as soon as possible, will allow senior officers to consider the ‘cumulative impact’ of previous protest activity.
If a protest has taken place at the same site for weeks on end, and caused repeated disorder, the police will have the authority to, for example, instruct organisers to hold the event somewhere else. Anyone who breaches the conditions will risk arrest and prosecution.
The Home Secretary will also review existing legislation to ensure that powers are sufficient and being consistently applied. This will include powers to ban protests outright, and will also include provisions in the Crime and Policing Bill, which is currently going through Parliament.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said:
Further details will be set out in due course.
Policing Minister Sarah Jones visited Lambeth Police HQ yesterday to see the Metropolitan Police’s response to yesterday’s protests where almost 500 were arrested. Most of those arrests were made for supporting the proscribed group, Palestine Action.
The Minister spoke to Metropolitan Policing leaders on the challenges of the protests and how new technology like live facial recognition could help in the future.
The Home Secretary will also write to Chief Constables today, thanking them for their swift and professional response following Thursday’s terrible attack and at protests across the country. She will encourage them to use the full range of powers available to them to prevent and respond to public disorder.
Following the Yom Kippur terrorist attack in Manchester, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Steve Reed has written to local authorities encouraging them to use their existing resources and powers to ensure Jewish communities are protected in the coming days and weeks, including limiting protest activity as much as possible.
All police forces in England and Wales are working with the Community Security Trust to reassure and offer additional support to the 538 different synagogues and Jewish community sites across the country.
Today’s announcement builds on measures already in the Crime and Policing Bill going through Parliament to support the policing of protests:
Bloomberg (archive.ph)
By Shiyin Chen and Silas Brown
2025-10-05 10:01:46GMT
Police take a protestor into custody in London on Oct. 4. Photographer: Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu/Getty Images
UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will give police new powers to place limits on repeated protests and is considering legislation to ban them outright, after weeks of demonstrations led to mass arrests and strained resources.
The move comes a day after police arrested nearly 500 people in the latest protest in Trafalgar Square in support of the proscribed group, Palestine Action. Prime Minister Keir Starmer had earlier called on organizers to cancel Saturday’s event in the wake of last week’s attack on a Manchester synagogue, which took place on Yom Kippur — the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
“The right to protest is a fundamental freedom in our country,” Mahmood said in a statement Sunday. “However, this freedom must be balanced with the freedom of their neighbors to live their lives without fear.”
In the wake of the terrorist attack in Manchester, the Labour government is facing questions about whether it’s done enough to protect the Jewish community in the UK. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy was heckled at a vigil held in Manchester after the synagogue attack.
“I fully accept that people are grieving, they are upset and they want more from their government. They are justified in asking for more,” Mahmood said in an interview with the BBC on Sunday.
The UK government, which last month formally recognized Palestine as a state, is trying to get to grips with several large protest movements that have gathered steam across the country, including demonstrations against the unfolding situation in Gaza as well as protests against immigration policies. Although the marches have been mostly peaceful, opponents have complained about intimidation of passers-by and antisemitic banners and slogans.
In a separate interview with Sky News, Mahmood said that everyone should acknowledge the complexity of the situation the police are dealing with.
“We’ve had a number of near-misses around migrant hotels, a mosque was set on fire last night, we’ve had an anti-Semitic terrorist attack on UK soil as well,” she said.
Police will be given new powers to tell organizers of demonstrations that have taken place at the same site “for weeks on end, and caused repeated disorder” to move their events somewhere else, according to the statement, with offenders facing arrest and prosecution. The new powers will be brought forward as soon as possible, the government said.
Mahmood is also reviewing existing legislation to ensure that “powers are sufficient and being consistently applied,” including the ability to bar protests from taking place altogether.
Civil liberties groups and other non-profit organizations including Greenpeace UK have already begun pushing back against the proposed measures.
“The Home Secretary must immediately withdraw this dangerous step towards authoritarianism,” Will McCallum, Greenpeace UK’s co-executive director, said in a statement. “We are repeatedly told that the right to protest is ‘a cornerstone of our democracy’ and yet in the last few years it has been corroded to the point of collapse.”
(Updates with comments from Home Secretary)
---
New police powers to protect communities from disruption caused by protests
GOV.UK (archive.ph)
By Home Office and The Rt Hon Shabana Mahmood MP
2025-10-05 09:40:04GMT
Police forces will be granted new powers to put conditions on repeat protests as the Home Secretary orders a fresh look at how protests are policed and organised.
The new powers, which will be brought forward as soon as possible, will allow senior officers to consider the ‘cumulative impact’ of previous protest activity.
If a protest has taken place at the same site for weeks on end, and caused repeated disorder, the police will have the authority to, for example, instruct organisers to hold the event somewhere else. Anyone who breaches the conditions will risk arrest and prosecution.
The Home Secretary will also review existing legislation to ensure that powers are sufficient and being consistently applied. This will include powers to ban protests outright, and will also include provisions in the Crime and Policing Bill, which is currently going through Parliament.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said:
The Government will make the improvements by amending Sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 to explicitly allow the police to take account of the cumulative impact of frequent protests on local areas in order to impose conditions on public processions and assemblies .
Further details will be set out in due course.
Policing Minister Sarah Jones visited Lambeth Police HQ yesterday to see the Metropolitan Police’s response to yesterday’s protests where almost 500 were arrested. Most of those arrests were made for supporting the proscribed group, Palestine Action.
The Minister spoke to Metropolitan Policing leaders on the challenges of the protests and how new technology like live facial recognition could help in the future.
The Home Secretary will also write to Chief Constables today, thanking them for their swift and professional response following Thursday’s terrible attack and at protests across the country. She will encourage them to use the full range of powers available to them to prevent and respond to public disorder.
Following the Yom Kippur terrorist attack in Manchester, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Steve Reed has written to local authorities encouraging them to use their existing resources and powers to ensure Jewish communities are protected in the coming days and weeks, including limiting protest activity as much as possible.
All police forces in England and Wales are working with the Community Security Trust to reassure and offer additional support to the 538 different synagogues and Jewish community sites across the country.
Today’s announcement builds on measures already in the Crime and Policing Bill going through Parliament to support the policing of protests:
- Banning the possession of fireworks, flares and other pyrotechnics at protests;
- Criminalising the climbing of specified war memorials, making it clear that such disrespectful behaviour is unacceptable; and
- Banning the use of face coverings to conceal a person’s identity at protests designated by the police.
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