Senior police officers have undermined the government's justification for controversial new laws to crack down on “noisy” protests, saying they did not ask for the powers
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is returning to parliament today
The government has defended its widely opposed proposals, telling journalists that the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the Metropolitan Police had “been consulted and support these measures”
But the NPCC and Met say they did not ask to impose conditions based on noise
The govt also points to a report by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary that said police needed to better balance the rights of protesters and wider public, but the watchdog did not look at the proposed noise law
Senior police and crime commissioners are also opposed
The shadow policing minister called the proposals a “partisan power grab”, following human rights warnings
Sarah Jones: “At no point have the police said they need these powers on the basis of noise, and it would be very serious if ministers were trying to mislead the public”
The Home Office said police had requested the power to impose conditions on protests that caused a “significant impact” on the community rather than the current bar of “serious disruption”, and that the noise clause was narrower
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Five extreme right-wing and nationalist groups contested the seat where Jo Cox was murdered by a neo-Nazi in 2016
The by-election acted as a lightning-rod for fringe figures seeking to raise their profiles, mainly by capitalising on the Batley Grammar School cartoon row
The five candidates received a combined total of 538 votes - 1.4%
The highest-profile figures fared extremely badly. Former Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen got 50 votes
Anne Marie Waters, leader of the far-right For Britain Movement, received 97
The Met Police has changed its statement over a BBC journalist being chased at an anti- lockdown protest
lts initial statement "suggested officers were not in the immediate vicinity of the incident" but footage showed them there and failing to intervene or help
Met says first statement "was drafted based on the 45 second video of the incident which was shared very widely on social media this morning. That video began on Richmond Terrace and out of sight of officers on nearby Whitehall....
...We were subsequently made aware of a longer piece of footage lasting 3 minutes and 28 seconds which shows the incident in full. It is clear that the incident began on Whitehall where officers were present"
Met says it "acknowledges concerns raised about the police response"
The Met Police has been accused of “institutional corruption” following a £16m probe into the unsolved murder of private detective Daniel Morgan
An independent panel said it was using term "in the present tense" and criticised commissioner Cressida Dick independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/…
The panel concluded that the force’s “first objective was to protect itself” over allegations corrupt officers were involved in the murder
There have been no successful prosecutions despite four major police investigations and other probes, and evidence was "irretrievably lost"
Dame Cressida Dick was personally criticised for the way she handled the inquiry's access to police records and systems
The panel did not call for her resignation but Mr Morgan's brother Alastair said she should 'consider' it. We have a conference at Scotland Yard at 4pm
Morrice, a former British army driver, also shared manifestos by the Christchurch and Norway shooters, and ran his own social media channel that encouraged far-right terror attacks
Police said he had “terrorist intentions” himself. He was jailed for 18 years
Priti Patel told police she wanted an “early intervention” in the Extinction Rebellion protest outside a Rupert Murdoch-owned printworks, a court has heard
The officer who commanded the operation said his decisions were not affected by the home secretary
An independent review of the Herts Police operation highlighted the “volume of contact” between the home secretary and chief constable, adding:
“Political contact needs to be carefully considered in future to avoid decision-making falling outside recognised command structures"
Assistant chief Constable Owen Wetherill, who was gold commander for the protest, denied being put under “political pressure” himself and said his decisions on how to respond to protesters were not affected
The court heard the chief constable called Mr Weatherill at 4.45am...
Exclusive: Another terror attack by a released prisoner is “in the pipeline” because of a lack of control over extremists in British jails, the government has been warned
Evidence heard at inquests into the Fishmongers' Hall attack sparked fresh concern
Weeks after Usman Khan's attack, his associates at HMP Whitemoor tried to murder a police officer inside the jail
Following that, there were two further terror attacks by released prisoners - in Streatham and Reading
Ian Acheson @NotThatBigIan, who carried out review of Islamist extremism in prisons, said: “There are good people doing their best to make sure that another outrage won't happen, but being good isn't the same as doing well. Another Khan is in the pipeline.”