The Home Secretary, James Cleverly, has proposed new legislation that would make climbing on war memorials a specific public order offence, punishable by up to three months in prison. Mr. Cleverly described the act of scaling these monuments as “an insult” and said it “cannot continue”. He added that the proposed change in the law would ensure activists do not insult those who paid the ultimate price for their freedom to protest.
This new measure is part of a wider plan aimed at tackling disorder at protests, which the Home Office is set to unveil later this week. Under the new guidelines, an individual found guilty of climbing on a war memorial could face a £1,000 fine, in addition to the prison sentence. The new laws will apply in England and Wales and will be introduced as an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill currently going through Parliament.
Previously, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, said that climbing on memorials was “inflammatory” but not illegal, and that it was up to the government to consider giving more power to officers to respond to protests.
The move follows a breakaway protest in Hyde Park Corner last November, where a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators scaled the Royal Artillery Memorial. The monument was built to commemorate the tens of thousands of Royal Artillery soldiers killed in World War One. The incident sparked a public discussion on the protection of war memorials and monuments and prompted the government to consider legislation to deter such behaviour in the future
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More