Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help tackle illegal protests that block streets in London.

This Government is committed to tackling the guerrilla tactics used by a selfish minority of protesters, which take up precious resource and disrupt the lives of others. That is why we introduced the Public Order Act 2023, which improves the police’s ability to manage highly disruptive protests and take a proactive approach to prevent such disruption happening in the first place. For example, the lock-on offence and the associated stop and search power will allow the police to pro-actively prevent protesters from causing serious disruption on our roads and save the taxpayer time and money.

Through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, the Government also raised the maximum penalty for wilful obstruction of the highway, ensuring offenders can receive proportionate sentences for the disruption they cause.

We have also recently amended the Public Order Act 1986 via statutory instrument to align the definition of “serious disruption” with the Public Order Act 2023. These changes give the police greater flexibility and clarity over when to intervene to stop disruptive tactics such as blocking roads and slow walks.