Contributions
1,586 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDPublic Order Act 2023I would like to know what protests the Minister has joined in his time. That would be very informative for the House.16 May 2023HANSARDPublic Order Act 2023The legislation is having a chilling effect on people’s ability to protest. The Minister knows that that is the case because that is the very purpose of the legislation. I will go…16 May 2023HANSARDPublic Order Act 2023I absolutely agree. That is the dangerous nature of the Act. Freedom of assembly in the UK now exists on the Government’s terms—when the Conservative party deigns to give that…16 May 2023HANSARDPublic Order Act 2023I am very interested in what the Minister said about intention, because the Republic protesters who found themselves getting arrested had no intention—in fact, they had been…16 May 2023HANSARDPublic Order Act 2023If the hon. Gentleman wants to tell me which protests he has joined, I would be glad to take his intervention, too.16 May 2023HANSARDPublic Order Act 2023People should have the right to protest in the way they see fit. This Government are running scared of protesters, who have had to take radical steps because the Government are…16 May 2023HANSARDPublic Order Act 2023I beg to move, That this House believes that the Public Order Act constitutes a serious infringement on the rights of the people to protest; and makes provision as set out in this…16 May 2023HANSARDPublic Order Act 2023I will make some progress. When it came to the protests and the rest of the coronation, I was appalled and outraged, but not surprised. It is no coincidence that the Act got Royal…16 May 2023HANSARDPublic Order Act 2023The hon. Lady makes the most important point: although the Bill’s territorial extent is England and Wales, anybody who comes to this city to protest—it could be any of our…16 May 2023HANSARDPublic Order Act 2023I would like to make some progress. The point of protest is to attract attention to a cause, and the more difficult it is to attract attention to a cause, the more it undermines…16 May 2023HANSARDPublic Order Act 2023I am glad to find that somebody on the Government Benches has protested against something before. It must be true that you get more conservative as you get older. The difficulty…16 May 2023HANSARDPublic Order Act 2023As the hon. Gentleman knows, we will be taking evidence on this issue in the Home Affairs Committee tomorrow from people who were arrested under this very legislation, who had no…16 May 2023HANSARDPublic Order Act 2023I absolutely agree with the point that the right hon. Lady is making on behalf of the people of Wales who are affected by this Act. The point about innocent bystanders—16 May 2023HANSARDPublic Order Act 2023I would like to just finish the point I am making to the Minister, and then I will let the hon. Gentleman come in on this point. I have laid out my past history of protest for a…16 May 2023HANSARDPublic Order Act 2023I want to finish this point, if that is okay with the hon. Member. Ms Chambers, an Australian national, says that she has lived in the UK for seven years and was told she would…16 May 2023HANSARDPublic Order Act 2023I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. The people who were on PCS demonstrations in my constituency a few weeks ago were certainly making their voices loud and clear, and it is…16 May 2023HANSARDPublic Order Act 2023My hon. Friend is absolutely right. When we talk about intentions, we are almost in the dystopian area of pre-crime, guessing what people’s intentions might be. With strings…16 May 2023HANSARDNational Crime Agency Investigation: Javad MarandiThank you, Mr Speaker. Mr Marandi appears to have used UK corporate structures, including Scottish limited partnerships—Hilux Services LP and Polux Management LP—registered to a…16 May 2023HANSARDPublic Order Act 2023It certainly is. When we look at how the Act has operated in its first outing, we know that although it is working as the Government intend, it is not working as some people claim…16 May 2023HANSARDNational Crime Agency Investigation: Javad MarandiThank you very much, Mr Speaker. Mr Marandi appears —[Interruption.]16 May 2023