by Imani Adesanya
Illustrated by Chiara Guigou
Recent comments made by former Home Secretary Suella Braverman have brought concerns about civil liberties to the forefront of the political debate. Following the escalated tensions between Israel and Hamas, former Home Secretary Suella Braverman has branded pro-Palestinian demonstrations as ‘hate marches’ which should be banned, despite their largely peaceful character. This has ignited concerns among freedom of expression advocates as it questions and diminishes the democratic right to protest.
These comments – coupled with the passage of the highly controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill Act 2022 – have damaging consequences for our democracy. By limiting and restricting protests, fundamental democratic rights are being eroded. This is because citizens are being deprived of their voice which has negative implications for the accountability of government. The passage of this bill ultimately meant that police powers were extended such that they could now stop protests if they believed them to cause “more than minor disruption to the life of the community”. These political developments call into question Britain’s status as a liberal democracy by eroding freedom of association and speech.
Britain is a liberal democracy – a state characterised by free and fair elections, and the recognition of individual rights and freedoms. Political officials are elected when citizens vote with an aim to represent the views and interests of the electorate in parliament. But not everyone in society has the right to vote and even those who do may be apathetic towards elections. Voter turnout in the UK since the 1990s has been on a steady decline. In the 2019 general election 67.3% of the electorate turned out to vote whereas in the 1992 election voter turnout was 77.7%. Whilst on the surface this suggests that there is a participation crisis in the UK, claims of a participation crisis can be said to be exaggerated as these statistics taken alone do not consider the growth of other forms of political participation such as protests. The rise of social media has meant that it has become easier for people to organise protests and mobilise around a specific issue. For example, it is through social media that many people were made aware of when and where the protests for Palestine would be taking place.
Rather than being seen as an evolution of participation, however, one could suggest that the rise of social media has instead led to increased political engagement. Ultimately, electoral turnout remains the most important indicator of participation. Nevertheless, protests remain a significant tool of political power because they are accessible to people of all ages, unlike elections. Therefore, the digital and protest-based revolution must be viewed in tandem with the fact that the voting age in the UK is 18. Protests are not exclusive to people of a certain age and so allow young people to become more politically engaged and informed for the first time.
However, the recent threats to the right to protest limit participation, and restrict young people’s ability to actively engage in politics. For example, at the end of 2022 there were at least 54 people in prison for taking part in protests. This trend continued in 2023 as in October more than 60 climate activists were arrested in London under the new anti-protest laws. Despite this, it is important that people continue to exercise their right to protest and not succumb to the attempts by the government to silence them. The importance of protest can be seen through the success of environmental groups such as Extinction Rebellion who have been able to keep issues of climate change and global warming at the forefront of the political debate.
Protests provide an avenue for citizens to voice and express their political beliefs, particularly if they feel like they are not being adequately represented by officials in Parliament. This tends to be the case in the UK because the UK uses the Single Member District Plurality (SMDP) which is a disproportionate voting system. This produces electoral outcomes where minor parties are under-represented and larger parties such as the Labour and Conservatives are over-represented. Protests offer people another mechanism through which they can express their political dissatisfaction and rather than relying on an MP to act on their behalf, they can take action themselves and force those in power to implement change.
Despite increased police powers and comments made by the former Home Secretary, people have continued to take to the streets in huge numbers to show their solidarity with Palestine and demand a ceasefire. Many of the protests have garnered hundreds of thousands of attendees, possibly making them some of the largest protests in British political history if organiser estimates are correct. Protests will therefore continue to be a powerful tool utilised by citizens to raise awareness of political issues, make their voices heard and hold governments to account for their action or inaction.
