There are growing calls for boycotts of artistic endeavors – including performance art installations, visual artist exhibitions, performing arts groups, erotic movies, exhibitions and art biennials. The boycott, as a public declaration of not attending an ‘offensive’ exhibition, festival or film, has…
The Manifesto Club report Smoked Out charts the rise of smoking bans in outdoor public spaces across the UK. First in children’s playgrounds, smoking bans have now spread to hospital sites, the gardens of closed mental health institutions, and are moving into squares,…
The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act went live on 20 October. This included ‘public spaces protection orders’, which allow councils to ban any activity which they judge to have a ‘detrimental effect’ on the ‘quality of life’ of an area. A…
The Manifesto Club Campaign Against Leafleting Bans has achieved significant protections for small groups and events, in new statutory guidance published today by Defra. In our report, Leafleting – A liberty lost? we showed how large numbers of city centres were now…
Cambridge City council has passed a PSPO banning the drinking of alcohol in public spaces. It’s remarkably unclear how the order will be applied, however. Council leaders and the police insist that it won’t be used against families having a nice picnic, and so on – that it will only be used in cases of anti-social behaviour. And yet, council leaders refused an amendment by the Lib Dems, which would have restricted alcohol confiscation to cases of anti-social behaviour. What is most likely is that the order will be applied against street drinkers, who may or may not be committing anti-social behaviour…
This is the final week in a consultation by Oxford city council, proposing a ban on various ‘anti-social activities’ in the city centre (the council is using new ‘public spaces protection order’ powers, PSPOs, which allow them to ban any activity they judge to have a ‘detrimental effect’ on the ‘quality of life’). These banned activities include : sleeping in toilets, rough sleeping, public drinking, dogs off leads in the city centre, pigeon feeding, ‘non-compliant’ busking, and ‘persistent begging’. When the Manifesto Club debated the issue on BBC Radio Oxford on Sunday, Oxford councillor Dee Sinclair said that they were bringing in the…
Thomas Mumby, a 28-year old musician in Retford, has been issued with a ‘community protection notice’ prohibiting him from busking in Retford town centre. A ‘community protection notice’ can be issued if a person’s behaviour is judged to have a ‘detrimental effect’ on the ‘quality of life’ of an area (the notice can be issued by council or police officers, and creates a criminal offence). Mr Munby is continuing to busk, however, as this is his livelihood. This means a real risk that he will be taken to court. See a video here of his encounter with the police ; there is…
The new, dangerously open-ended ‘public spaces protection order’ powers allow councils to ban any activity which they judge to have a ‘detrimental effect’ on the ‘quality of life’ of an area. Many councils have passed or are planning to bring through these orders (see our list, here). Below are the currently open consultations for public spaces protection orders. Please take the time to respond, especially if you live in or visit the area concerned. If councils receive enough critical responses, this will make it much harder for them to bring the measure through. OXFORD CITY COUNCIL is proposing new laws restricting: sleeping…
The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act went live on 20 October. This included ‘public spaces protection orders’, which allow councils to ban any activity which they judge to have a ‘detrimental effect’ on the ‘quality of life’ of an area. A Manifesto Club report found that powers would be used to ban rough sleeping, ball games and ‘inappropriate dress’. Here is a three-month review of how councils are using these powers… Kettering Borough Council is consulting on a public spaces protection order in the town centre, which would regulate the following activities: street drinking, skateboarding, charity collectors, anti-social driving and parking,…
Boston Council has announced a ban on street drinking, with signs announcing that ‘drinking alcohol or carrying it in any open container in this area is PROHIBITED’. Yet these announcements misrepresent the powers provided in the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act. The powers to make ‘public spaces protection orders’ is extremely broad, but one of the few restrictions is a restriction on a complete ban on alcohol. The Statutory Guidance accompanying the Act states clearly: ‘It is not an offence to drink alcohol in a controlled drinking zone. However, it is an offence to fail to comply with a request to…
Lincoln city councillors have voted in favour of a ban on ‘intoxicating substances’. The policy will go before the council’s executive committee for final ratification on 19 January. The law is made under new powers contained in the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act, specifically the ‘public spaces protection order’ (PSPO) power, which allows local authorities to ban anything which has a ‘detrimental effect’ on the ‘quality of life’ of the locality. The law is intended to prohibit the consumption of so-called ‘legal highs’, but is drafted so broadly as to include all substances which affect the central nervous system, which could…
A briefing document by the Manifesto Club shows that schools’ monitoring of ‘racist incidents’ has continued and expanded, with a new trend of recording kids’ ‘prejudice’ based on gender, sexuality, ‘home circumstances’ and special needs. The briefing document argues that these recording systems intervene in everyday playground interaction, as well as undermining teachers’ authority and ability to deal with incidents in a proportionate manner. DOWNLOAD THE BRIEFING DOCUMENT Media coverage: ‘Fat bucket’ isn’t the worst thing you can call a child. ‘Bigot’ is, Sarah Oliver, Daily Mail, 4 January Is your five-year-old a bigot and a racist?, 4 January, Guardian School pupils…