Thoughts and prayers

[orathaic]

Any comment from my neighbours in the UK on the new policing laws?

[Octavious]

It's not attracted much public interest, and in all honesty I don't have any major worries. The kind of protests that make life miserable for people by blocking major roads and bridges tend to do more harm to the cause than good anyway, so bringing an end to that sort of nonsense will aid both the protesters and the police. Tightening rules against the more extreme protesters, such as the EDL and antifa, is not something I am at all concerned by. No doubt those on the receiving end of the fear and intimidation these type of protests generate will be delighted.

The right to protest remains enshrined in British law and this is in no danger of changing. This is merely a crackdown on those who take the piss.

[Octavious]

It is worth pointing out that what happened tonight was the second reading of the Bill, and this will be followed by detailed scrutiny during which changes are often made (and there are various aspects of this Bill I expect to be improved). We are some way away from having new policing laws.

[Jamiet99uk]

Why does this thread have such a misleading title?

[Octavious]

Because it's one of ora's?

To be honest I'm far more concerned by Scotland's Hate Crimes Bill. Of course it is entirely possible that this was the Bill ora was referring to, in which case I'll be pleasently surprised, but somehow I doubt it.

[Octavious]

It was a particularly grim piece of legislation when it was first devised, criminalising people who "have in their possession threatening, abusive or insulting material with a view to communicating the material to another person", or actions "where it is a likely consequence that hatred will be stirred up against a protected group". So basically you didn't even have to actually hate anyone to break the law, and libraries would have been buggered as they are packed with stuff that's abusive and communicating it is what they do. Thankfully the worst of it was done away with after some pretty rigorous opposition, but it's still not great.

[MajorMitchell]

Is the thread title and indication that Thoughts and Prayers might be policed in the UK similar to practises in the People's Republic of Oppression, oops, China ( I keep getting those synonyms, PRC & PR~Oppression mixed up)???
In the PRC only "Xi Jinpeng Thoughts​" are allowed and his oppressed slaves have access to innumerable editions of the "Thoughts of Xi Jinpeng"

[orathaic]

No, just that I wish to send my thoughts and prayers to fellow UK based webdippers who may be living through a transition towards authoritarianism.

Individuals found protesting to be arrested if the police decide they are offensive?Or did the bill get delayed?

[Octavious]

No, just that I wish to send my thoughts and prayers to fellow UK based webdippers who may be living through a transition towards authoritarianism.

Individuals found protesting to be arrested if the police decide they are offensive?Or did the bill get delayed?

Basically ora is hypersensitive to any possible story that might support his narrative of the UK being the bad guy, and as such he's pushing this one as hard as he can. It's something we're all guilty of to some extent, and it doesn't always mean that the highlighted issue isn't true, but in the UK it's not an issue that's caught the public's imagination.

The Bill is approaching the committee stage after the second reading. As it's a particularly large Bill and we're getting towards the end of of the current session in Parliament, the detailed scrutiny won't start until a new session begins. There is nothing unusual in this.

For those of you unaware of how the UK works in this regard, the framework can be loosely described as follows.

1st reading
2nd reading
Committee stage
Report stage
3rd reading

With all the above being carried out in the House of Commons and mirrored by the House of Lords. As you can see, we're quite early on in the process.

To give an example of what the Bill is intended to achieve in protests, it's to stop protests disproportionately infringing on the rights and freedoms of others. Imagine a pro-life protest group chaining themselves to the railings of an abortion clinic, and screaming at the doctors who work there and the women desperate to use its services. This bill will provide the police the power to put an end to it. In current legislation the police have to prove that the protesters have been informed of the law before acting, which has led to the farcical situation where protesters make themselves untouchable by simply closing their eyes and sticking their fingers in their ears. This Bill will put a stop to that by making the assumption that protesters already know the basic fundamentals of the law.

The committee stage will scrutinise the Bill, ensuring reasonable limits are put on the new powers (defining what level of noise is unreasonable, etc) and the House of Lords will have its own say, and we should end up with some legislation that will make life better for everyone. But it ain't quick and there's a long way to go. Sending thoughts and prayers now is... rather odd to say the least. I wasn't even aware ora was religious.

[orathaic]

No, just that I wish to send my thoughts and prayers to fellow UK based webdippers who may be living through a transition towards authoritarianism.

Individuals found protesting to be arrested if the police decide they are offensive?Or did the bill get delayed?

<snip>I wasn't even aware ora was religious.

Sorry you had to put your ignorance on display like that

[orathaic]

Do I have this right? A UK cop murdered a woman; the UK right, without much opposition from the nominal left party, made it illegal to insult a statue or look weird at the cops; and now the cops are beating anyone who doesn't like it.

From: https://twitter.com/KarlSteel/status/13 ... 75786?s=19

[orathaic]

Also this: "ONE of the world’s oldest and most respected medical journals BMJ has published a damning attack on the UK Government, saying “science is being suppressed for political and financial gain” in the mould of “some of history’s worst autocrats and dictators”. "