Minister refuses to say what anti-coronation protests will and won’t be allowed under new public order law – UK politics live | Politics

Republic, the group campaigning for the abolition of the monarchy and an elected head of state, has said that the Home Office’s decision to write to it warning about the new anti-protest powers was “very odd” because the group has been liaising with the police for some time about the coronation.

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Graham Smith, the group’s CEO, told PA Media:

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n

We’ve been liaising closely with the police about the protest for weeks. We’ve had meetings with them.

n

They’ve said very clearly that they have no problems with our plans. I just can’t understand why the Home Office thinks it’s appropriate to send a letter like that, which was anonymous in terms of no person’s name on it. It struck us as intimidatory in a way.

n

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Republic says it is going ahead with its protest as planned.

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We are proceeding as planned. Free speech and the right to protest are fundamental principles in a democracy. #NotMyKing https://t.co/yr2jSmvxNv

— Republic (@RepublicStaff) May 2, 2023

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There are details of its coronation protest on its website.

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Rishi Sunak has set five priorities for his government, of which three – halving inflation, getting the economy growing, and reducing debt – relate to the economy.

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Law and order is not normally seen as part of economic policy. But in his Today interview this morning Tom Tugendhat, the security minister, suggested the Public Order Act, which gives the police new powers to stop protesters, was part of the government’s growth strategy. He explained:

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n

We’ve seen the nature of protest in the UK become so much more disruptive, so much more intrusive.

n

We cannot deliver on the five pledges that the prime minister has set out – we can’t halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut waiting lists or stop boats – if we can’t get the economy going. And that’s what we’ve really focused on.

n

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And here is my colleague Aletha Adu’s story on the Tom Tugendhat interview.

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Good morning. Tom Tugendhat, the security minister, was on the pitch for No 10 on the morning TV and radio programmes. He was there to talk about the prime minister’s new fraud strategy (fighting it, not perpetrating it), but inevitably he was asked about coronation security.

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Today the Guardian is splashing on the revelation that new powers making it easier for the police to disrupt protests, which are in the Public Order Act, have been implemented about six weeks early so that they are available to officers this week, so that if people try to hold up coronation events they can be removed and arrested more easily than under previous public order legislation. The Home Office has even written to Republic, the group campaigning for Britain to become a republic which is organising coronation day protests, warning them what they are now up against.

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The Guardian: New anti-protest powers rushed into law in time for coronation #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/9PoUxUswKM

— George Mann (@sgfmann) May 2, 2023

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In an interview on the Today programme Tugendhat said the coronation would be a moment for the UK to showcase its abilities. He went on: “It’s also a major moment to showcase our liberty and our democracy.” This was a gift to the presenter, Nick Robinson, who asked what would happen to anyone who wanted to make use of this “liberty” by waving an anti-monarch banner in London on Saturday.

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Tugendhat replied:

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n

They have the liberty that anybody in the United Kingdom has to protest.

n

What they don’t have the liberty to do is to disrupt others, and that’s where we’re drawing and making a difference. Because you saw ambulances in London only a few months ago unable to take patients to hospital because people were blocking roads. You’ve seen people, quite rightly, getting extremely frustrated when they’re unable to get to work or get to school in the morning because people from one pressure group or another have decided to put an obstacle in their road.

n

This is why we are making this change to the law. And this is why the important changes we’ve made to the Public Order Act have gone through.

n

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Robinson then tried to get Tugendhat to explain what would and would not be allowed under the new laws. But the minister would not answer. He replied:

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n

I’m not going to go through the details what you can or can’t do for fear of encouraging people to find loopholes in it, for very obvious reasons.

n

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Robinson then put it to him that it would not look good if people were prevented from holding up banners. Tugendhat replied:

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n

So look, operational decisions are quite rightly a matter for the police, and you wouldn’t expect me to second guess them on your programme.

n

What we’ve done is we’ve passed laws that give the operational police commanders the powers that they have been asking for for many, many months.

n

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Yesterday some Home Office figures were claiming that it was pure coincidence that the Public Order Act powers are coming into force this week. But in a separate interview with Times Radio, Tugendhat admitted that there had been a “change of time” – although he claimed that was not significant.

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Here is the agenda for the day.

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9.30am: Sir Patrick Vallance gives evidence to the Commons science committee to mark his departure as the government’s chief scientific adviser.

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12pm: Rishi Sunak faces Keir Starmer at PMQs.

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1.30pm: Sunak gives an interview to Jeremy Vine on his Radio 2 show.

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Afternoon: Sunak and Suella Braverman, the home secretary, are on a visit in Buckinghamshire.

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Afternoon: Starmer and Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader, are on a visit in Kent.

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Afternoon: Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, holds a press conference with Anthony Albanese, the Australian PM, in Cumbria.

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