London Indymedia

SOCPA Victory? Demo 1pm April 5th Trafalgar Square

Campaign for Free Assembly | 26.03.2008 03:08 | SOCPA | Repression | Social Struggles | London

Jack Straw announced plans to replace SOCPA sections 132-138, which ban spontaneous demonstrations around Parliament, and make it a criminal offence to demonstrate with police permission - to get maximum positive PR from the ever compliant press, Straw only announced the repeal now, while the need for new laws was hidden in the small print. One battle may soon be over, the struggle continues on the streets.

We are meeting at 1pm at the roundabout on the South side of Trafalgar Square on Saturday 5th April. Come with your mates and discuss with them what you want to do with the day. Bring placards, banners, whistles or anything else you can think of. Let them know you won’t be easily silenced.



They say:

"In moving to repeal sections 132-138 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act, the Government nonetheless takes seriously the need to ensure that the operation of Parliament is safeguarded. For many years this principle has been given expression in sessional orders which provided the Metropolitan Police with clarity on the House’s expectations on the Commissioner. [...] The Government believes that Parliament itself is well placed to contribute to proper consideration of what needs to be secured in order to ensure that Members are able freely and without hindrance to discharge their roles and responsibilities. [...] The Government therefore invites the views of Parliament on whether additional provision is needed for the purpose of keeping passages leading to the House free and open while the House is sitting, or to ensure that, for example, excessive noise is not used to disrupt the workings of Parliament."

 http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/constitutional-renewal-white-paper.pdf

We say:

It's time we had freedom to publicly assemble in the UK. The Campaign for Free Assembly is calling for a for action against the existing legislation restricting our freedom to protest and proposed new restrictions around Parliament.

We need to respond to continued police repression and the Government's white paper on 'The Governance of Britain'. They propose the repeal of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) 2005, sections 132-138, which restrict demonstrations in a 1km zone around Parliament, but at the same time ask MPs to come up with new ways to thwart demonstrations.

The proposed powers and those already given to the police create a climate of criminalisation: a vast confusion of laws are applied arbitrarily so people are arrested simply for standing in the wrong place at the wrong time or having the wrong face.

This combines with a police culture that evades accountability even when people are killed, as shown by the Menezes case and others. There should be no complacency that the court system can be relied on to prevent injustice. The ability to exercise effective protest is crucial in order to defend ourselves and others from the abuses of those in power.

Whatever the issues that matter most to you, whether you are concerned about a safer school crossing, a new runway or ending a war, these law affect you.

The government proposals need a response not on paper but on our streets. The message is simple: we claim the freedom to assemble without prior notification or permission and this freedom is not open to negotiation.

Campaign for Free Assembly
- e-mail: freeassembly@riseup.net
- Homepage: http://freeassembly.notlong.com/

Additions

What about Critical Mass?

26.03.2008 06:09

Following its consultation, the Government is looking to repeal SOCPA sections 132-138. Section 137 restricts the playing of loudspeakers within the zone, a bone of contention for some Critical Massers as as it means that the police are insisting that cycle sound systems must be turned off in the vicinity of Parliament. Curiously, this police ban seems not to be applied to car sound systems.

However...

"The Government therefore invites the views of Parliament on whether additional provision is needed for the purpose of keeping passages leading to the House free and open while the House is sitting, or to ensure that, for example, excessive noise is not used to disrupt the workings of Parliament."

More:

 http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/constitutional-renewal-white-paper.pdf
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/03/394736.html
 http://criticalmasslondon.org.uk/socpasounds.html

Masser


Comments

Hide the following comment

Bait & Switch

26.03.2008 20:57

I fully expect them to to repeal the protest laws in terms of applying to a specific area but quietly redefine the powers to be easier to wield against individual campaigns or demonstrations.

You won't have to ask for permission to protest, but they'll come down on protests and apply conditions without any kind of warning.

MonkeyBot 5000


Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

London Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

London IMC

Desktop

About | Contact
Mission Statement
Editorial Guidelines
Publish | Help

Search :