SOCPA Section 128 signs appear around Parliament - now a "Protected Site"
[via Parliament Protest blog]:
With no publicity or public consultation, or any interest from the mainstream media, and no debate or scrutiny from Members of Parliament, the access of members of the General Public to meet with and lobby and observe their elected Members of Parliament and the unelected Lords has been further reduced as of 1st June 2007.
Some perimeter warning signs have now appeared around some of the Designated parts of the Parliamentary Estate. They say:
Trespass on this Site
is a criminal offence.This is a protected site
under Section 128 of the Serious Organised Crime
and Police Act 2005.
[...]
[...]
The vast array of black painted spiky railings, black painted concrete barriers, black CCTV surveillance camera "death star" mountings and now these "Protected Site" signs, all just show how paranoid and unfriendly and out of touch with the electorate, Parliament has now become. No wonder politicians are held in such increasing contempt by the public.[...]
Protected against what, exactly ? Not against terrorists, since many other laws would already apply. Presumably the protection is against otherwise peaceful demonstrators, with the collateral damage side effect, of further restricting the rights of the general public, even when they are not demonstrating or protesting peacefully.
[...]
