This government’s public order bill would not be out of place in the statute books of Russia or Belarus. Yet the bill passed its second reading in parliament this week. Why does Boris Johnson criticise repressive policies in authoritarian regimes – and then emulate their tactics? One would hope he is more tolerant of dissent. Yet last year, a series of protests by Insulate Britain that blocked major roads in London led Mr Johnson’s home secretary, Priti Patel, to respond by trying to make her illiberal policing bill even more illiberal.
Peers in the upper chamber thankfully voted down the amendments. But Ms Patel’s impulse to outlaw demonstrations did not go away. The public order bill repackaged the amendments, which the Labour peer and former Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti said were “modelled on anti-terror legislation – except they’re for protest”.
