U.K. 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 banned Palestine Action group. British 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.”
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.