It is now just over a week until the TUC march against public spending cuts, when tens of thousands of people are expected to take to London’s streets in protest. Both the TUC and the Metropolitan Police have asked Liberty to provide independent legal observers for the ‘March for the Alternative’ to help ensure that it runs smoothly and safely.
This contribution, 77 years on from Liberty’s formation, takes us back to our roots
and reminds us of why we are here.
It was police brutality against the Hunger Marches of the 1930s that inspired our founder Ronald Kidd to create the National Council for Civil Liberties, later renamed Liberty. At a time of economic disarray and social unrest, Kidd and his co-founders vowed to act in defence of British freedom by being neutral observers of coming marches. As the saying goes, ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same’. How true!
Here we are again – amidst similar financial uncertainty and public disquiet legal volunteers from Liberty will take to London’s streets next Saturday to monitor the TUC event as independent witnesses. But we will also be able to observe the police’s special operations room, giving us a unique opportunity to scrutinise the way the protest is policed. Suggestions that this somehow compromises our independence are misguided. We will simply be there to observe. Indeed, such unprecedented access means that we will be able to examine the police’s handling of the march like never before. Accusations that we will be ‘sharing intelligence’ with the police are completely incorrect.
This is a promising, progressive opportunity, and displays a level of cooperation from the protest organisers and police that our founders could only have dreamt of. Liberty remains firmly opposed to many police public order tactics, particularly but not just ‘kettling’. Having access to the police’s special operations room won’t prevent us expressing our views, forcefully where necessary.
The right to protest peacefully is a fundamental democratic and human right – one that Liberty was founded to promote. Just as we have done for decades, we will be providing legal observers for the TUC march – and other demonstrations in the coming years – to ensure that this right is protected.
It was police brutality against the Hunger Marches of the 1930s that inspired our founder Ronald Kidd to create the National Council for Civil Liberties, later renamed Liberty. At a time of economic disarray and social unrest, Kidd and his co-founders vowed to act in defence of British freedom by being neutral observers of coming marches. As the saying goes, ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same’. How true!
Here we are again – amidst similar financial uncertainty and public disquiet legal volunteers from Liberty will take to London’s streets next Saturday to monitor the TUC event as independent witnesses. But we will also be able to observe the police’s special operations room, giving us a unique opportunity to scrutinise the way the protest is policed. Suggestions that this somehow compromises our independence are misguided. We will simply be there to observe. Indeed, such unprecedented access means that we will be able to examine the police’s handling of the march like never before. Accusations that we will be ‘sharing intelligence’ with the police are completely incorrect.
This is a promising, progressive opportunity, and displays a level of cooperation from the protest organisers and police that our founders could only have dreamt of. Liberty remains firmly opposed to many police public order tactics, particularly but not just ‘kettling’. Having access to the police’s special operations room won’t prevent us expressing our views, forcefully where necessary.
The right to protest peacefully is a fundamental democratic and human right – one that Liberty was founded to promote. Just as we have done for decades, we will be providing legal observers for the TUC march – and other demonstrations in the coming years – to ensure that this right is protected.
