PCSC Bill – 3 areas of concern for freedom of speech

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, introduced by Priti Patel earlier on this year, seeks to widen a twenty-five-year-old law which allows public demonstrations to be restricted only when serious public disorder, damage, or serious disruption is caused. The new proposals give the police much wider-ranging powers, including the authority to stop demonstrations if the noise level “may cause [people] to suffer serious unease, alarm or distress” and indict the speakers.

In this video, Jeremiah explains how this Bill sits very uncomfortably with British law and tradition that cements freedom of speech in our understanding on how we relate to one another. “Freedom to speak inoffensively is not worth having. Freedom to say just what people want to hear is no freedom at all. And that is baked to British law and culture.”

Watch the video to hear of 3 areas of concern in this Bill.