"If I may just finish this point. They are entitled to make the decision to break the law and suffer the consequences. That is something that we accept in this country. People can choose to do that, provided they are willing to accept the consequences. To make that decision and …..." Kerry McCarthy - View Speech
"The Parliamentary Private Secretary asks why not. That is quite worrying. Would that cause serious disruption, if he had one hand attached to the door and was wiggling backwards and forwards as everyone went in and out? That is exactly my point. If that is deemed to cause serious disruption, …..." Kerry McCarthy - View Speech
"To clarify, when I was talking about protests in general and people breaking the law during a protest, I was not talking about locking on...." Kerry McCarthy - View Speech
"Q Can I go back to the question of deterrent? With some of the groups we are talking about, particularly the environmental campaigners, the aim is to get arrested—that is very clearly stated. I have seen calls to action where it says, “Our objective is to have x number …..." Kerry McCarthy - View Speech
"Q In that case, again, if they are willing and wanting to be arrested and are not worried about the level of fines because payment will be crowdfunded, that suggests that it is not a deterrent. I am a Bristol MP, and we saw with the Colston statue and …..." Kerry McCarthy - View Speech
"Q May I ask about the serious disruption prevention orders in clause 12? As I understand it, there could be an application to the court by the authorities to prevent somebody from taking part in protests, even if they had not been convicted of something but are deemed to …..." Kerry McCarthy - View Speech
"Q How do you see the provisions working? As I understand it, an application has to be made to a court for the order. Would the person who was going to be subject to this order be entitled to legal representation? Would getting the order involve proving the person’s …..." Kerry McCarthy - View Speech
"I could understand it to a point if somebody’s presence at a future protest could lead to a dangerous situation, which is what you say the international comparison would be; but under the Bill, basically your right to protest could be removed for five years because you had not behaved …..." Kerry McCarthy - View Speech
"Q I think the Amnesty note says that in other countries, the issue is about not being allowed to organise a protest, but this measure, as I understand it, would mean that you were not allowed to participate. It could be quite specific: you would not be allowed in …..." Kerry McCarthy - View Speech
"Q You say that in Belarus anyone who has been fined is not allowed to organise a protest for another year. This measure goes way beyond that.
Olly Sprague: We have not looked at 600 different laws for the purpose of this sitting. However, where we have looked, we …..." Kerry McCarthy - View Speech