We Own The Streets - Campaign for Free Assembly

It's time we had freedom to publicly assemble in the UK. We need to reassert this
in response to continued police repression and the Government's consultation 'Managing Protest around Parliament', which proposes giving the police powers to censor the content of banners and placards, and that the laws about restrictions and notifications which currently apply to marches should be extended to all demonstrations. This is what has already happened in the 'SOCPA zone' around Parliament.

The proposed powers and those already given to the police create a climate of criminalisation, a vast confusion of laws are applied arbitrarily, so people are arrested simply for standing in the wrong place at the wrong time, for having the wrong face, and combined with a police culture that evades accountability even when people are killed, as shown by the Menezes case and others, there should be no complacency that the court system can be relied on to prevent abuse and injustice.

Whatever the issues that matter most to you, whether you are concerned
about a safer school crossing, a new runway or ending a war, this
proposal will affect you.

The government consultation, which ended on 17th January, needs a response not on paper but on our streets, the message is simple - we claim the freedom to assemble without prior notification or permission - and this is not open to negotiation.

We plan to hold a second day of action on Saturday 1st March proclaiming this freedom, as the next step in establishing a new era where it is unquestionable that our liberties cannot be consulted away.

The next meeting of the campaign will be on 16th February.
Campaign for Freedom of Assembly