Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of (a) the adequacy of and (b) levels of adherence to (i) human rights and (ii) public order obligations in the policing of recent protests.

The police have a fundamental duty under the Human Rights Act 1998 to act in a way that is compatible with human rights, including the rights to freedom of assembly and expression. The police also have a duty to ensure that public order and public safety is maintained. This is made clear to all police officers through police guidance, such as the Authorised Professional Practice on Public Order and Public Safety and the National Protest Operational Advice.

The police must therefore strike a fair balance between individual rights to protest and the general interests of the community.

The use of police powers to achieve this is a decision for the police, who are operationally independent from Government. As such, Government Ministers cannot comment on the use of these powers in a specific public order context, as to do so may undermine their operational independence.