POLICE shut down an anti-Brexit campaigner’s demonstration on Tuesday less than a day after the UK Government’s new protest law came into effect.
Well-known activist Steve Bray, otherwise known as “Stop Brexit Man”, found himself surrounded by around 15 uniformed police officers in Parliament Square who seized his hi-fi equipment.
It comes as Priti Patel’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act comes into force, which expanded the "controlled" area around parliament to include Parliament Square.
The Home Secretary’s bill aims to crack down on “guerrilla protests” and comes after climate protesters such as Insulate Britain shut down several roads across the UK.
It prohibits intentionally or recklessly causing a public nuisance.
Bray was told he is forbidden from creating a “noisy protest” around the Palace of Westminster.
The activist remained determined to continue protesting, despite having his speakers taken away by authorities.
On the day that “noisy” protest becomes unlawful under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, at least 20 police officers have just surrounded anti-Brexit protestor Steve Bray outside the Houses of Parliament and seized his loud speaker. @LBC pic.twitter.com/ljwwHOO8me
— Charlotte Lynch (@charlotterlynch) June 28, 2022
He told LBC: "I'm here, protesting as normal, I've been protesting for the last six years or so and the police warned me twice and I said, 'no we're a protest, I'm not recognising this fascist law that Priti Patel has pushed through Parliament'.
"I put the amp on again... and they came over and started to seize the two amplifiers.
"I'm very angry but at the end of the day amplifiers are replaceable. We need more people here, we need more noise because I ain't going to let these b******* grind me down, none of us are."
He said he was “absolutely not worried at all" about being arrested.
He continued: “[The UK] has fast become a fascist state, when the laws don't suit them, they change them to suit them and that's when we need to start worrying.”
Bray said for every amp the police seized, he would come back with 10 more.
He labelled police “fascists”, adding that if he is fined he will refuse to pay.
As police attempted to take the speaker from the 52-year-old, knocking off his famous hat in the process, a crowd around the campaigner were heard shouting “this is a free country".
After forces took his equipment, Bray said: “Police have just seized our amplifiers x 2. And microphone. I still have megaphone. We are going to need more amplifiers and people.”
Later, he said he had been threatened with arrest.
Human rights groups have hit out at the Tory's protest bill, saying demonstrations are a "vital" part of democracy.
Jun Pang, policy and campaigns officer at Liberty, said: “Protest is not a gift from the state, it is a fundamental right. Being able to choose what, how, and when we protest is a vital part of a healthy, functioning democracy, and nowhere is this more important than at sites of power like Parliament – especially at a time when the Government is bringing in laws that make it harder to challenge them,
“Protests are by nature ‘noisy’ and ‘disruptive’. It is very worrying the police have already started enforcing the broad powers within the Policing Act in such a heavy-handed and punitive way.
“As the Government tries to push through further attacks in the Public Order Bill and the Rights Removal Bill, we must all oppose these measures that will make it much harder for us all to stand up for what we believe in.”
The Metropolitan Police have been approached for comment.
