Manifesto Club

Events

Manifesto Club at the Battle of Ideas, 17 and 18 October

The Manifesto Club will be analysing contemporary threats to freedom at the Battle of Ideas on 17 and 18 October. Sessions include: ‘Statute overload: are there too many laws?‘, about the growth of criminalisation of everyday life; ‘Hot off the Press: outdoor smoking bans‘, as Brighton Council prepares to ban smoking on the beach; ‘We the People, you the Mob?‘, about the growth of censorship and censoriousness online; and on 7 October, ‘From booze bans to homeless spikes: is public space under threat?‘. Do come along!

PSPOs • Take action!

New PSPOs – speak out against hyperregulation

Councils’ have been announcing a swathe of new plans for new ‘public spaces protection orders’ banning activities in public spaces. These new orders show the dangers of these arbitrary, open-ended powers, with towns and cities planning bizarre new offences such as ‘loitering’, carrying out card tricks, or failing to be carrying a poop bag. In every case, these new laws target an activity that is not in itself problematic or criminal. The entirely innocent and anodyne will be punished. There will be new criminals created: the mother who smoked a cigarette in a children’s playground, the busker who played a tune on…

Booze bans • Dispersal powers • Leafleting bans • Public space

Banned in London – Online map

You are in danger of unwittingly committing an offence if you stray into one of 435 special zones in London. The boundaries of these zones are often unmarked and within them many everyday activities are either banned or restricted. A new Manifesto Club online Google map, Banned in London, reveals the 435 special zones that now cover half the area of the UK capital. In these areas, people can be fined or prosecuted for activities that would not otherwise be an offence – including leafleting, protesting, dog walking, gathering in groups, and drinking in public.   Go to the Banned in London…