Home secretary mulling further restrictions on protests

James Cleverly considering longer notice periods for large demos in England and Wales, says policing minister

The home secretary, James Cleverly, is considering further tightening the law around demonstrations, including a requirement for protesters to increase the amount of notice they give police before large demonstrations, a cabinet minister has said.

Extending the notice period from the current six days to “a couple of weeks” in England and Wales for “very, very large protests with tens of thousands of people” would make planning easier for the police, policing minister Chris Philp said, as he stressed the government would not seek to prevent future pro-Palestinian protests.