Content warning: This article quotes language that may be considered offensive to Roma and Traveller communities
The Labour government has proposed a bill that would stop people from wearing “face coverings” and “climbing war memorials” at protests in the UK.
Under the Crime and Policing Bill 2025, described as “equipping the police with more powers to respond quickly to criminal activity”, individuals wearing face coverings at public protests could be arrested (up to a month) or fined up to £1,000.
Anyone caught climbing a designated war memorial, described in the bill as “unacceptable” and “disrespectful behaviour”, could be arrested for 3 months and given a fine of up to £1,000.
Included is a clause that prevents anyone wearing a covering because of “health of the person,” “religious observance,” or “relating to the person’s work” from being charged.
Parts of the bill, including bans on face coverings and climbing war memorials, come from the previous Conservative government’s Criminal Justice bill.
According to Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Philp, “Two-thirds of this Bill has apparently been copied and pasted from the previous Government”.
Philip said, “I congratulate the Home Secretary on using the Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V functions on her Home Office computer.”
Kim Johnson, Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, expressed concern over the “increasing criminalisation of legitimate and peaceful protest in this country”, critiquing the bill’s “draconian anti-protest legislation”.
This comes as a recent Sky News and Liberty investigation found that pro-Palestine student protestors were being targeted by police across the country. The Mancunion confirmed that the University of Manchester has disciplined multiple students involved in protest action.
The human rights group group, Liberty, suggested that proposals in the bill could specifically target “young Black men” as well as “criminalise G*psy, Roma and Traveller communities’ way of life”.
Human Rights Group ‘Amnesty International UK’ has released a statement arguing against the bill saying that it would cause “the imprisonment of peaceful protesters for longer than some serious violent offenders”.
Encouraging MPs to fight back against the second reading of the bill, which took place 10 March, Director of Campaigns Kerry Moscogiruir at Amnesty International said in a statement:
“Peaceful protest is clearly protected under international law […] it seems the UK has entered a dangerous new era of authoritarian policing”.
The bill is currently undergoing the committee stage, with another reading scheduled for 27 March.
