Public Disorder

Lord Pearson of Rannoch Excerpts

Thursday 16th December 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, one simply has to ask whether it helps when police are attempting to control a very large demonstration to ask for police snatch squads to try to go in to the middle of a demonstration to seize particular demonstrators, which is in effect what the noble Lord is asking for. We have to leave this to the judgment of the police on the day. I am assured that a number of those who were wearing masks and, for example, in the 24 November demonstration, vandalising a police van in the middle of Whitehall were identified afterwards and some of them have been arrested.

[Lord Pearson of Rannoch]

Do the powers extend to the removal of a burka that might have been donned during a demonstration?

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, I have already quoted Section 60AA of the 1994 Act, which says,

“for the purpose of concealing … identity”.

I have also said that there are plenty of other reasons, not simply including religious identity, for which people may indeed wear masks. If it gets colder in the next few days, we can expect to see many more white Christian Englishmen, perhaps even including the noble Lord—I am not sure whether he is a Christian or not, but that is up to him—wearing masks that keep their faces warm.