• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
  • Guest Content
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Politics

Calls to repeal the Coronavirus Act following ‘disturbing’ Clapham Common scenes

Last month it was found that every single one of the 246 prosecutions launched under the draconian law has been overturned.

Jack Peat by Jack Peat
2021-03-14 09:05
in Politics
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Police at a vigil in memory of Sarah Everard were “placed in a position where enforcement was necessary”, Scotland Yard said amid pressure to explain its handling of the event.

A crowd gathered at Clapham Common to remember the 33-year-old marketing executive but scuffles broke out as police surrounded a bandstand covered in flowers left in tribute.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police were seen grabbing several women, leading them away in handcuffs and the force later said four people were arrested for public order and coronavirus regulation breaches.

Coronavirus Act

The Coronavirus Act was introduced by the government in March last year, at the start of the pandemic. It contains emergency powers, such as banning mass gatherings and enforced screening for people deemed infectious, to restrict the spread of the virus.

According to reports in February every single one of the 246 prosecutions launched so far under the draconian law has been done so incorrectly, leading human rights barrister Kirsty Brimelow calling for the Act to be repealed.

She told Parliament’s human rights committee: “One hundred per cent of prosecutions under the Coronavirus Act to date have been wrong. That shows to me there is a very strong case to repeal that section, that has continually been used wrongly and unlawfully against members of the public.

“The statistics aren’t usual within a criminal justice context, to repeatedly see the law being unlawfully applied.

“What it does demonstrate is that the safeguards are not working within the criminal justice system, and it also demonstrates that where there are no safeguards which apply where fixed penalty notices are applied, where there is no lawyer overseeing them, it’s highly likely there are thousands of those [fines] that have been unlawfully issued.”

Petition and reaction

A petition set up in January was signed by more than 30,000 people but was thrown out by the government, which responded:

RelatedPosts

Ex-councillor jailed over £430k Eat Out to Help Out fraud

David Frost says Remainers are ‘about to be humiliated’ over trade deal that will boost UK economy by 0.08%

Petition calling on Govt to hold a Public Inquiry into impact of Brexit reaches 130k signatures

Sunak Zelensky snub among news items ‘leaked’ before Easter recess

“With the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic still being at large with the emergence of the new variants, the measures taken by the Government to tackle the virus remain as important as ever.”

Following disturbing scenes last night there have been renewed calls for the Act to be shelved.

Here’s what people are saying on social:

Protest is a human right. It is protected under the Human Rights Act. Right now the government have effectively banned it under the Coronavirus Act and it's not ending there – Priti Patel is attempting to make that permanent with the new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

— Moya Lothian-Mclean (@mlothianmclean) March 13, 2021

Wow. “Look what you made me do” is what abusers say. https://t.co/8Mvqmn0566

— Rosamund Urwin (@RosamundUrwin) March 14, 2021

The Met Police were disgusting yesterday, but the real culprits are those who turned our wonderful nation into a fascist police state: Johnson, Patel, Hancock and every Tory/Labour MP who didn't vote against the Coronavirus Act to remove our civil liberties in Parliament. pic.twitter.com/LjQVFYIdej

— David Kurten (@davidkurten) March 14, 2021

Everything about the surrender of our rights to protest under the Coronavirus Act and Priti Patel’s imminent Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill must be resisted. This pandemic has been covered for one of the greatest state seizures of power from ordinary citizens. Repeal.

— Jason Okundaye (@jasebyjason) March 13, 2021

Related: Priti Patel is about to rush through ‘draconian crackdowns’ on the right of peaceful protest

Content Protection by DMCA.com

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending

Elevenses: Exposing the Tories’ Deepfake Illegal Immigration Bill

Elevenses: Rishi’s Finest Hour

Elevenses: Fear and Loathing in the New Conservatives

More from TLE

Moment diver tries to remove hook from mouth of one of world’s most dangerous sharks

Occupy’s #tarpaulinrevolution: When the law enables police to breach human rights

Hacking collective Anonymous reportedly hacked U.N. website & added Taiwan back in

9 in 10 vegans can’t find ‘grab and go’ food options despite exponential growth of plant-based eating

EU calls out ‘absolute breach of international law’ after Northern Ireland Brexit checks halted

Watch: Disability campaigner confronts ‘shameful’ Jacob Rees-Mogg in street

Hammer attack on young transgender woman

‘Chestfeeding’ among terms being introduced by NHS trust and Laurence Fox isn’t happy

Coronavirus could be Trump’s reckoning

NATO: Sweden will apply for membership as Finland opens debate ignoring Russian threats

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Commercial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.