Key Facts

• Amendments 35 and 36 seek to narrow the scope of offences related to obstructing major transport works.
• The amendments aim to remove references that allow for broad interpretation and potential criminalization.
• HS2 reported costs of £122 million due to protest, expected to rise to £200 million.
• The Public Order Bill is under review by the Public Bill Committee.
• Concerns are raised about the bill's impact on lawful protest rights.
• Clause 3 introduces new offences for obstructing construction or maintenance of major transport projects.
• The maximum penalty is 51 weeks imprisonment or a fine.
• Examples include HS2, airport extensions, and railway works.
• Greenpeace’s Megan Randles argues the Bill targets climate protesters.
• Liberty raises concerns over interference with fundamental rights under articles 10 and 11 of the European convention on human rights.
• The Crown court backlog remains significant despite measures like extra sitting days and Nightingale courts.
• The National Audit Office report states that removal of limits on Crown Court sitting days relies on adequate physical and judicial capacity which does not exist.
• Former Member Anna Soubry faced problems in court due to the current system crisis.
• Amendment 49 aims to replace “interferes with” with “prevents”.
• Amendment 50 is related to changing “interferes with” to “prevent”.
• Amendment 51 seeks to remove subsection (4).
• Amendments 49 and 50 seek to replace “interferes with” with “prevents”.
• Amendment 51 aims to remove a passage defining interference as prevention.
• Jones argues that “prevents” is clearer and stronger than “interferes with”.
• The amendment aims to add emergency services to clause 4(6) of the Public Order Bill.
• In April 2023, protesters in St Martin's, Shropshire, demonstrated against the closure of a GP surgery.
• Protesters also protested A&E closures in Grantham, Lincolnshire.
• Clause 4 introduces a new offence with penalties up to 12 months imprisonment or an unlimited fine.
• Liberty has pointed out that the clause risks criminalising wide-ranging activities, including significantly delaying infrastructure use.
• Over 20 people were arrested during Just Stop Oil protests in Surrey for criminal damage and aggravated trespass.
• The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill was previously criticized for overburdening police resources.
• Matt Parr's report on the previous bill did not cover all sections of the current Public Order Bill.
• Sir Peter Fahy testified about the challenges of interpreting new offences for law enforcement.
• Policing Insulate Britain’s sit-down protests cost £4 million.
• The policing cost of Just Stop Oil’s campaign is over £6 million.
• Sarah Jones acknowledges that some protesters, like Swampy from HS2 protests, use old tactics but with new impacts.
• The Public Order Bill has not undergone proper consultation on clauses related to infrastructure and transport.
• Police officers have expressed concerns about the breadth of the legislation's interpretation.
• 'Serious disruption' is an established term in public order policing since 1986, as per the Public Order Act.
• Clause 5 defines different types of key national infrastructure.
• The clause is part of the Public Order Bill, which Jones criticizes for its broad definition of interference.
• Jones cites examples such as Greenham Common protests and Insulate Britain protests to illustrate her points about protest rights.
• The clause defines 'newspaper printing infrastructure' to include presses for national and local newspapers.
• David Dinsmore argued that newspaper printing is a critical service, especially during the pandemic.
• Examples given include the Daily Mail (circulation: nearly 1 million), London Review of Books (circulation: unknown but published fortnightly), Angling Times (25,878 subscribers).