He looks back to 1819, the Peterloo Massacre and the subsequent ‘Six Acts’ repressing public gatherings, public criticism of the government, newspapers and political activity among the working class. Under Boris Johnson’s government, we had ‘five Acts’ curbing public protest and limiting judicial review, as well as proposals to repeal the Human Rights Act, although current prime minister Liz Truss has ditched former justice secretary Dominic Raab’s proposed Bill of Rights.
Bindman writes: ‘Scrapping Raab’s Bill could be a turning point away from a period of isolationism in our history under a government bent on weakening democratic accountability and the rule of law while cynically claiming the opposite. The ‘five Acts’, having ‘nugatory justification’, also need scrapping.’
Also covering the subject of freedom of speech, Hill Dickinson partner David Locke writes in this week’s NLJ on the use of ‘demonetisation’ to silence debate. Locke refers to the decision by PayPal to close the accounts of the Free Speech Union (subsequently re-opened following criticism). The idea that ‘unelected, unaccountable corporations will be able to exercise control over political discourse’ is an ’alarming possibility’, he writes. He asks whether it is now time to include ‘political belief’ among the roster of protected characteristics.
See Geoffrey's article on the rule of law here, and David's on demonetisation and freedom of speech here.
