As of midnight, protest is effectively illegal in the UK.
(www.opendemocracy.net)
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Oh what an interesting dilemma this thing creates:
You can see the possibility of selective/double standard in enforcing this... I'm sure this is just an oversight and surely not intentional. When those groups you don't like start a protest, some others show up, "cause problems" and then you shut it all down. It's all cumulative, innit?!
I wonder, do you have to get a protest approved in the UK, like in other "freer" EU countries (I think that applies to large gatherings), or can it be spontaneous?
Oh, and "community"... what a wonderful little exploit. "Our" community was deeply affected. Yeah, we live in the opposite part of the country, what of it ?
All laws are selectively enforced. The idea that "nobody is above the law" is fiction taught to children. Anyone adult who says publicly it really means "we are using the law as a pretext to justify harming our political enemies and helping our political allies."
Once you accept that you will realize the fight isn't over what the law is but over who is doing the enforcing.
I have heard that the metaphysical "Rule of Law" of republicanism is (historically) a relatively recent American-promoted phenomenon. That the rule of law sits above all men, and serves an ideal eternal justice that the "justice system" objectively and blindly applies to all citizens. Europeans and the English always understood legislation and punishment comes from whoever is in power, not from some ephemeral force of law and order. It's not a bad idea because it limits the rights of kings and inspired the written Constitution, but the collective poison of Democracy strengthens the myth because it makes us believe FDR's lie of "We are all the government!" Whereas the founders assumed every couple generations the people would revolt and reform the government when the rulers got out of hand.