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Through an amendment tabled to the Public Order Bill, the Government will broaden the legal definition of 鈥榮erious disruption鈥�, giving police greater flexibility and clarity over when to intervene to stop the disruptive minority who use tactics such as blocking roads and slow marching to inflict misery on the public.

While the Government has already given police additional powers to prevent protestors using guerrilla tactics, police chiefs have told the Prime Minister that there is some uncertainty over what reaches the threshold of 鈥榮erious disruption鈥�.

The changes introduced today will give police officers absolute clarity over when they should step in. In practice, this will mean:

• police will not need to wait for disruption to take place and can shut protests down before chaos erupts
• police will not need to treat a series of protests by the same group as standalone incidents but will be able to consider their total impact
• police will be able to consider long-running campaigns designed to cause repeat disruption over a period of days or weeks

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:

鈥淭he right to protest is a fundamental principle of our democracy, but this is not absolute. A balance must be struck between the rights of individuals and the rights of the hard-working majority to go about their day-to-day business.

鈥淲e cannot have protests conducted by a small minority disrupting the lives of the ordinary public. It鈥檚 not acceptable and we鈥檙e going to bring it to an end.

鈥淭he police asked us for more clarity to crack down on these guerrilla tactics, and we have listened.鈥�

Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, Sir Mark Rowley said:

鈥淭he Met has a long history of policing protests, responding quickly and effectively to incidents involving crime and where serious disruption is caused, often in challenging situations. We have specialist officers trained to deal with a range of tactics, but this is complex, time-consuming work.

鈥淚t is clearly understood that everybody has the right to protest. Increasingly however police are getting drawn into complex legal arguments about the balance between that right to protest and the rights of others to go about their daily lives free from serious disruption. The lack of clarity in the legislation and the increasing complexity of the case law is making this more difficult and more contested.

鈥淚t is for Parliament to decide the law, and along with other police chiefs, I made the case for a clearer legal framework in relation to protest, obstruction and public nuisance laws. We have not sought any new powers to curtail or constrain protest, but have asked for legal clarity about where the balance of rights should be struck.

鈥淚 welcome the government鈥檚 proposal to introduce a legal definition of 鈥渟erious disruption鈥� and 鈥渞easonable excuse鈥�. In practical terms, Parliament providing such clarity will create a clearer line for the police to enforce when protests impact upon others who simply wish to go about their lawful business.鈥�

National Police Chiefs鈥� Council Lead for Public Order and Public Safety, Chief Constable BJ Harrington, said:

鈥淲e welcome the constructive conversations with government over more clearly defining serious disruption. This will support officers in confidently and quickly taking action and making arrests where appropriate.
鈥淧olicing is not anti-protest, but there is a difference between protest and criminal activism, and we are committed to responding quickly and effectively to activists who deliberately disrupt people鈥檚 lives through dangerous, reckless, and criminal acts.

鈥淧olice have a responsibility to appropriately balance the rights of the public who are going about their daily business lawfully and the rights of those protesting.鈥�

The College of Policing have confirmed today that they will produce guidance outlining the additional powers given to officers over the last year.

National Highways is also reviewing its guidance, taking learnings from previous protests to ensure that roads are reopened as quickly as it is safe to do so.

Today鈥檚 announcement is the latest step in the Government鈥檚 continued commitment to tackle the highly disruptive protests that the British public have been increasingly subjected to over the last few years.

Through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, the Government introduced a statutory offence of public nuisance and created powers for the police to place conditions on unjustifiably noisy protests and increased the sentences for obstructing the highway.聽 Measures already announced in the Public Order Bill include creating a new criminal offence for interfering with key national infrastructure and for 鈥榣ocking-on鈥�.

The Prime Minister also sat down with the Home Secretary and police chiefs in December to give a clear message that the Government expects protesters who disrupt the lives of others to be swiftly removed and arrested.

Further supportive quotes

Matthew Scott, Kent鈥檚 Police and Crime Commissioner said:

鈥淲hen Police Leaders were summoned to No. 10 last month, the Prime Minister made it absolutely clear that the law-abiding public must be protected from disruptive illegal protests. The Prime Minister promised to give policing the powers needed to end disruptive protests faster.

鈥淭oday, the Prime Minister has delivered on his promise to PCCs and Police Leaders to aid police forces by clarifying the law governing disruptive protests.聽 This is in addition to the steps the Government has already taken to give policing more powers in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act.

鈥淜ent Police was robust in dealing with these activists during last year鈥檚 disruption. This new clarity is welcome and should mean no more excuses from any agency for not clearing up disruption effectively.鈥�

Nick Harris, National Highways鈥� Chief Executive, said:

鈥淭he strategic road network is the backbone of the country, supporting the movement of trade, the daily commute and connecting friends and families, so people have a right to expect it to operate efficiently.

鈥淲e鈥檝e already obtained civil injunctions to deter reckless and dangerous protests on these busy roads. When they do occur, our guidance will help keep disruption to a minimum by ensuring that the carriageway is opened as quickly as it is safe to do so.鈥�