Overview

• Keir Starmer asked Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to examine wider public order powers beyond her plan to assess the cumulative impact of protests, with a focus on inflammatory chants at pro‑Palestine events.
• Mahmood’s proposal would allow police to move, reschedule or cap recurring demonstrations if similar protests are judged to cause repeated disruption, with changes considered to the Public Order Act.
• Breaching police protest conditions under sections 12 and 14 can already carry up to six months in prison or an unlimited fine, and ministers are looking at how those powers are used or could be amended.
• The Metropolitan Police reported 492 arrests at a London protest supporting the banned group Palestine Action days after the Manchester synagogue attack, following the group’s proscription in July.
• Civil liberties organisations and commentators argue the plans endanger the right to peaceful assembly and warn such powers could be misused by future governments.