West Midlands Police chief calls for change to COVID protest rules
Planned vigils in Birmingham and Coventry were not allowed to go ahead due to Coronavirus regulations
Last updated 16th Mar 2021
The West Midlands Police chief constable Sir David Thompson is urging the government to bring in a law change that will allow people the freedom to protest in the UK.
Sir David has written on his blog following heavy criticism of the scenes involving Metropolitan Police officers at the Sarah Everard vigil on Clapham Common.
He said the law "needs realigning quickly and irreversibly" to match "the freedoms expected in the country on protests".
Planned vigils in Coventry and Birmingham were also banned by the government under the current Covid-19 legislation.
Sir David wrote on his blog - officers use discretion to balance the risk of Covid infection, public safety and legal obligations at protests, but then "we are challenged for being either 'woke' and over tolerant, or cracking down too hard."
Sarah Everard went missing while walking home in Clapham on 3 March. Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens, 48, is charged with her kidnap and murder.
Four people were arrested for public order and Covid offences on Saturday, after crowds gathered on Clapham Common.
It followed a week of huge focus on women's personal safety and sparked huge disquiet and calls for commissioner Cressida Dick to resign.
Although event organisers did cancel the vigils in the West Midlands and urged women not to attend after they were threatened with fines - hundreds of women did still gather at a small event in Birmingham city centre.
There increasing fears that elements of the The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, currently in Parliament, will stifle the right to protest, with proposals that police will be able to impose a start and finish time, set noise limits and apply the rules to a demonstration by just one person.
Sir David Thompson said: "This cannot now wait until June. Much emphasis is being placed on police discretion to navigate these matters. I think this has been conducted by policing, in the main responsibly, however the law needs realigning quickly and irreversibly as we move out of the acute phase of the pandemic."
Hear all the latest news from across the West Midlands on the hour, every hour, on 103.1 and 97.2FM (Wolverhampton, Black Country and Shropshire), 96.4FM (Birmingham), 97 and 102.9FM (Coventry and Warwickshire), 97.6FM, 102.8FM and 96.7FM (Herefordshire and Worcestershire), DAB, at freeradio.co.uk, and on the Free Radio app.