House of Lords questions and answers on the Designated Area

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Some questions, and a few dubious answers from the Government, were fortcoming on Thursday 14th July 2005, in the
Grand Committee report to the House of Lords about the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (Designated Area) Order 2005

"The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal):

"I emphasise that nothing in this order or the Act seeks to detract from that.

However, we must pause to put some of the issues into better context. I should like to disabuse Members of the Committee of some misconceptions that have arisen. Let us be clear: the provisions in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act are not about denying the right to protest. As the noble Lord, Lord Dholakia, said, they require the organisers of demonstrators to give prior notification of the protest to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, and he is obliged—I put the emphasis on obligation—to authorise the demonstration. Nothing in this enables the Police Commissioner to deny the right to protest.

It will be open to the commissioner, however, to attach conditions to the authorisation where it is necessary. I emphasise the word "necessary" because the commissioner, in the exercise of his discretion, would have to respond in a proportionate and proper way."

"The Government believe that a notice period is an essential part of the provisions so that the commissioner is able to consider the circumstances of a demonstration and its likely effect on the work of Parliament and the security of the area around it. The commissioner can set these conditions, which are appropriate and proportionate, and he must be able to do so in advance. The Government have recognised that, as noble Lords have said, there may be occasions when demonstrations are organised as a response to events which could not have been foreseen. It was for that reason that we shortened the notice period to 24 hours in exceptional circumstances. But we do not believe that we should remove the notice period completely."

"But let me be clear, a penalty of imprisonment—which is a maximum of three months now and will be 51 weeks in the future—together with fines, is the maximum penalty that can be imposed in relation to these matters. Any punishment less than that is appropriate dependent on the nature and extent of the culpability demonstrated to have occurred.

It is to be applied only to those who do not comply with the conditions and to the organisers of the event—not the demonstrators but those who organise the event."

"I can reassure the noble Baroness that in regard to the imprisonment of organisers, the court will have the same powers it has in relation to any other matter. It must consider the circumstances of the case, how the individual responded and whether it is an appropriate and proper sentence commensurate with the nature of the culpability. That test will still be in place. Imprisonment is not available for the participants or those who carry on demonstrations by themselves. So one is targeting those who organise these demonstrations and orchestrate what we know will be a very unlawful assembly, particularly if it is designed to cause damage and destruction and to subvert."

"The noble Lord, Lord Dholakia, also asked, "Why the other side of the river?". I shorten what he said but, in essence, it is "Why the other side of the river?". In drawing up and taking advice from the police commissioner, my right honourable friend the Home Secretary and the commissioner sought to draw the line as narrowly as is operationally necessary. A great deal of consideration went into the nature of protest that may take place and the nature of the area. Demonstrations on the opposite side of the river to Parliament could hinder the proper operation of Parliament, cause a security risk or a risk to the safety of members of the public. I should point out, too, that the conditions which the Metropolitan Police place on demonstrations, wherever they are held, must be those necessary for preventing one of the situations set out in Section 134. These include:

"hindrance to any person wishing to enter or leave the Palace of Westminster . . . hindrance to the proper operation of Parliament . . . serious public disorder . . . serious damage to property . . . disruption to the life of the community . . . a security risk in any part of the designated area . . . risk to the safety of members of the public (including any taking part in the demonstration)"."

This still does not anwer the questions "Why the other side of the river", and "Why not St. James's Park a stone's throw from Downing Street ?" if "security" really is the motivation for this.

"Baroness Scotland of Asthal: I am sorry. Articles 10 and 11. We do not agree that these provisions go beyond what would reasonably be necessary for the better protection of the public and Parliament. We believe that these provisions are proportionate and do not improperly restrict the ability to participate in peaceful process, not least because they provide that there can be no refusal or prevention of the process. It is simply that there are conditions attached to them. So we are confident that the provisions are sound."

Despite the Home Office Minister's claims, surely there must be reasonable grounds to challenge this on the grounds of proportionality, under Articles 10 Frredom of Expression and Article 11 Freedom of Assembly and Association, of the European Convention on Human Rights as implemented in the Human Rights Act 1998

"The noble Baroness, Lady Williams, asked specifically whether we would change the boundaries that currently have been drawn. I have to disappoint her. The Government do not intend to do so because a great deal of time and effort was taken up in close consultation with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner on precisely where they should be drawn"

"We believe that these issues have been dealt with appropriately. We do not believe that they will prevent proper demonstrations taking place"

"Lord Kingsland: Before the noble Baroness sits down, perhaps I may ask her a question. We know from what Mrs Flint said in another place that the aim of the law is to prevent disruption to the work of Parliament and access to the House. As I have understood the noble Baroness, she is saying that the one kilometre area is necessary to fulfil this objective.

But supposing there is a group of people within the one kilometre area who do not intend to disrupt the work of the House or to address their protest to Parliament, but intend to address it to No. 10 Downing Street or the Ministry of Defence. Would they be caught by the order? On the explanations given by Mrs Flint and by the noble Baroness, it seems to me that they would not because the intention of the demonstrators would not be to disrupt Parliament but to protest to the executive arm of government. Perhaps the noble Baroness may have some reflections on that situation.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The noble Lord, Lord Kingsland, is a fine lawyer, so he will know how to interpret the section as well as I. It states that the area may be specified by description. It then says,

"no point in the area so specified may be more than one kilometre in a straight line from the point nearest to it in Parliament Square."

It is therefore clear that the Act permits such a designated area and permits my right honourable friend the Home Secretary, in consultation with the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, to designate that area. Once it is so designated, any demonstration which takes place falls to be one to which the commissioner is entitled to set conditions. It would of course be open to him not to set conditions if he felt that none was necessary or appropriate and proportionate. It does not in any way prescribe in this section that a demonstration must be limited. It is any place within the designated area which would fall to be considered."

"Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Before the noble Lord sits down, I want to make a correction because I do not want to mislead the Committee. It should have struck me that the demonstration on 8 July was not covered by these provisions. The offences do not come in until 1 August. The period between 1 July and 1 August is to ensure that authorisations can be obtained in time for 1 August, when authorisation will be needed. However, that does not detract from the fact that it would have been possible to have stated, even under our current legislation, that it was for security reasons
and so forth. I thought it important to correct that point because I would not like to have misled the Committee"

The Government has managed to confuse the public as to what is and what is not intended or permitted.

What is said by a Government Minister on the floor of either House of Parliment, actually has no bearing on the legal interpretation which a Court may make about the law, as it is written on the face of the Act of Parliament, so all the noble Baroness Scotland of Asthal's statements have to be taken with a pinch of salt.

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Note the correction Baroness Scotland made at the end of her speech, no doubt passed to her by one of the clerks when they noticed that she had shot her mouth off. At the start of her speech, she said:

"""
I do not think that the noble Baroness would suggest for a moment that this Government, in seeking to control the demonstrations that have properly taken place, have acted disproportionately or in any way that would limit our proud history of good, vibrant, democratic, lawful and peaceful protest.

I reassure the noble Baroness and the noble Lord, Lord Dholakia, that nothing in the legislation or this order seeks to do that. I join with my noble friend the Leader of the House in rejoicing at the fact that, notwithstanding the dreadful events of 7 July, we had the joy—it was a joy—of battling our way to this House through vibrant demonstrators, protesting at such volume that we could hear them clearly in our Chamber. That was not a matter of regret. A number of Members in our House rejoiced at it, because it demonstrated that, notwithstanding the fact that others would seek to destroy our democracy, we allowed that to take place in a way that was proper. I emphasise that nothing in this order or the Act seeks to detract from that.
"""

Clearly, she has little understanding of the meaning of this Act. This might be true of most of those who voted for it, for whom this issue was very low on their list of priorities.

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This web blog has been set up as an information resource and discussion area (please be polite in the comments) to help organise resistance to the restrictions on peaceful democratic demonstrations and protests, which have been enacted by law, in a wide Designated Area around Parliament Square in London.

It appears that in order to remove the peace protester Brian Haw, who has now been demonstrating continuously in Parliament Square, day and night, for over 5 6 years, the NuLabour Government have overreacted, and have granted themselves draconian and arbitrary powers, which affect the rights of all individual British citizens to lobby their Members of Parliament, or to walk in a vast Designated Area wearing a "political slogan" T-shirt, badge, rubber wristband etc. without first seeking prior written permission from the Police.

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Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005

The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 was rushed through, "on the nod", with minimal debate, during the undemocratic "wash up" process at the end of the last Parliament when the General Election had been called.

The bulk of the Act deals with the setting up of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, but there are also sections such as:

Section 110 Powers of Arrest

From 1st January 2006 this section makes any offence, no matter how minor, into an arrestable offence. Arrests by the police these days can mean taking 10 fingerprints and two palm prints, a DNA tissue sample and processing it into a digital "DNA fingerprint", forcing you to remove any facial coverings, (even those worn for religous purposes) to take photographs of your face etc. All of these items of personal data can then be retained forever, even if you are not charged, or any charges against you are dropped, or if you go to court and are found not guilty.

These new powers are regulated by the new statutory Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) Code of Practice G (.pdf)

Section 128 Trespass on a Designated Site - e.g. Crown Property or National Security

Sections 132 to 138 Demonstrations in the vicinity of Parliament - the controversial restrictions in detail.

The Public Whip website has details of how the Members of the House of Commons voted on these controversial clauses.

Designated Area

The current Designated Area is set out in: Statutory Instrument 2005 No. 1537 The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (Designated Area) Order 2005

Read more about the Designated Area in our category archive.

Write to politicians

Write To Them - identify and contact your local councillors, Members of Parliament, devolved Assembly members and Members of the European Parliament

You can also write to the Home Secretary David Blunkett Charles Clarke John Reid Jacqui Smith

You can send an email public.enquiries@ homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk or a letter to:

Rt. Hon. Jacqui Smith MP
Home Secretary
c/o Direct Communications Unit
Home Office
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF

Home Office Contact Us page

Mass Lone Demonstrations

Comedian Mark Thomas's website has details of Mass Lone Demonstrations which legally show up the absurdity of this law, and the bureaucracy involved in enforcing it. These multiple independent one person demonstrations take place on the third Wednesday of the month, from 5pm - 7.30pm within the Designated Area (often in Parliament Square, but not exclusively so)

Meet on the second Wednesday of each month outside Charing Cross police station (located at Agar Street, London, WC2N 4JP - see the map) any time between: 5.30 pm -7.30pm to hand in your Metropolitan Police SOCPA forms (download the optional Word or PDF forms from the Metroplitan Police) or your own personal Written Applications for Prior Permission.

Regular Protests in Parliament Square

Parliament Square - supporting the long running, 24/7, peace protest by Brian Haw in Parliament Square

Global Women's Strike who held "open mike" loudspeaker protests every Wednesday for over two and a half years, which are now banned.

London Critical Mass - group bicycle ride on the last Friday of every month, for the last 10 years, which often strays into the Designated Area.

The People's Commons Meeting / Tea Party / Picnic-Protest is now meeting every Sunday afternoon starting at 1 for 1.30pm on the Green in Parliament Square. wiki - new website PeopleInCommon.org

Website Links

Home Office - "Not fit for purpose. It is inadequate in terms of its scope, it is inadequate in terms of its information technology, leadership, management, systems and processes" - Home Secretary John Reid. 23rd May 2006.

Metropolitan Police Service

Metropolitan Police Authority - meant democratically to supervise the Metropolitan Police Service

Independent Police Complaints Commission

United Kingdom Parliament - Palace of Westminster, House of Lords, House of Commons etc.

Booking Parliament Square - Greater London Authority booking forms, terms and conditions for filming and photography for Parliament Square - "The GLA does not grant permission for demonstration, rallies and public meetings on Parliament Square Gardens".

They Work For You - a more user friendly version of the House of Commons Hansard

Pledgebank pledge:

"I will form part of a human chain around the Westminster no protest zone but only if 6,000 other people will join in."

Repeal-SOCPA-Info has useful briefing material for the Public Consultation into the laws restricting demonstrations, marches and assemblies, sample letters to MPs etc..

Blog Links

Spy Blog - Privacy and Security and Civil liberties campaigning

Mayor of London Blog - unnofficial comments on the Mayor of London and Greater London Assembly

Fuel Crisis Blog - Petrol at £1 per litre ! Protest !

Bloggerheads graphics of the 1km zone and the actual Designated Area

Charity Sweet - who has been harrassed for reading a copy of the Independent newspaper outside Downing Street etc.

BBC Travel Jam Cams

BBC Radio London has some links to Traffic Monitoring CCTV cameras, which they publish every 5 or 10 minutes, not usually in real time.

Whenever there is an "incident" or a march or demonstration, these online images are deliverately censored i.e. "not available for operational reasons", This is despite the images being of too low a resolution to identify anybody, and, the effect of not diverting traffic away from the incident, which should be the whole point of the online Traffic Cam images in the first place.

Whitehall / Parliament Square - this camera view sometimes shows Brian Haw's peace camp, and the new GLA fence around Parliament Square Gardens. (now removed, for the time being)

Northumberland Avenue / Victoria Embankment

Trafalgar Square (on the edge of the Designated Area)

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