Hi John,

What would our country be like without protest? 

There would be no votes for women, no free press and certainly no weekends. Because all of these things and more were won by generations before us protesting for change.

Our country was built upon the right to protest, so we can’t just sit back and watch this government take it away. Our government is failing on just about everything right now, so it’s never been more important to peacefully hold them to account and protest. John, please can you take a stand by signing our urgent petition calling on the government to scrap their new anti-protest laws?

The government has just passed the new Public Order Act 2023, which is an unprecedented attack on our right to protest. It allows the police to shut down protests before they even happen. To detain people for having things that could be used to lock themselves onto objects or people. And it massively expands stop and search and arrest powers, which further harms overpoliced communities and people of colour. [1]

We saw the shameful consequences of these new laws during the heavy-handed policing of the Coronation the other weekend. Protestors were arrested for simply carrying placards and people who weren’t even protesting ended up being arrested too. To avoid a repeat of these ugly scenes we need to convince the government to repeal the draconian Public Order Act. [2]

I know this sounds like a challenge, but people power can bring about change. Together we’ve been able to ban whaling, stop fracking and secure a historic Global Oceans Treaty. [3] We’ve been able to win all these campaigns because we’ve taken peaceful action to protect our planet and millions of people like you have supported us by signing our huge petitions.

Together we’ve been able to secure these wins for our planet against all the odds - so believe me when I say that together we can repeal the Public Order Act. We’ll be taking peaceful action to challenge the government in the weeks and months ahead, so please can you take a stand with us by signing our petition calling on the government to scrap these new anti-protest laws?

These new powers make it harder for all of us who believe in taking peaceful action to demand social change. They’re a threat to the trade unions, environmental groups, human rights organisations and just about anyone else who believes in speaking truth to power.

The government has united civil society against these new laws, but to get them scrapped we need the public united against them too. Nearly 50,000 people have already signed our petition, so please take a stand with them to show the true scale of public opposition to the Public Order Act. Together we can achieve change - so every signature counts.

Thank you for taking action.

Aiyan Maharasingam

Greenpeace UK

NOTES:

[1] The Public Order Bill: Explained

[2] Police accused of ‘alarming’ attack on protest rights after anti-monarchist leader arrested

[3] How Greenpeace changed the world

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