The Public Order Bill, which has now been passed by the UK Parliament, is deeply troubling legislation that is incompatible with the UK’s international human rights obligations regarding people’s rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly & association.
“This new law imposes serious & undue restrictions on these rights that are neither necessary nor proportionate to achieve a legitimate purpose as defined under international law.”
- UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.
“This law is wholly unnecessary as UK police already have the powers to act against violent and disruptive demonstrations. It is especially worrying that the law expands the powers of the police to stop and search individuals, including without suspicion.”
- Volker Türk.
The Public Order Bill “defines some of the new criminal offences in a vague and overly broad manner; and imposes unnecessary and disproportionate criminal sanctions on people organizing or taking part in peaceful protests.”
- UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.
The High Commissioner drew particular attention to 'Serious Disruption Prevention Orders' introduced by the law that allow UK courts to ban affected individuals from being in certain places at certain times; being with particular people; or using the internet in certain ways.
'Serious Disruption Prevention Orders' could lead to the individual in question being electronically monitored to ensure compliance.
It is especially concerning that such orders can be made against people who have never been convicted of any criminal offence.
“Governments are obliged to facilitate peaceful protests, while, of course, protecting the public from serious and sustained disruption. But the grave risk here is that these orders pre-emptively limit someone’s future legitimate exercise of their rights.”
- UN High Commissioner.
“I am also concerned that the law appears to target in particular peaceful actions used by those protesting about human rights and environmental issues.”
- UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.
“As the world faces the triple planetary crises of climate change, loss of biodiversity and pollution, governments should be protecting and facilitating peaceful protests on such existential topics, not hindering and blocking them.”
- UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
“The passage of this Bill regrettably weakens human rights obligations, which the country has long championed in international fora. I call on the UK Government to reverse this legislation as soon as feasible.”
- UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.
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University & College Union (UCU) general Secretary, Jo Grady, has agreed - "without any admission of liability" - to pay “substantial damages” to Paul Embery over tweets he claims falsely portrayed him as “a misogynist, a pervert & a liar”.
The @Twitter row between anti-woke GB "News" regular Embery, & UCU General Secretary Grady was quite widely reported, including in this 2nd March article in the Mirror, which frames it as "a very modern row".
Anti-woke GB "News" regular, Paul Embery, launched a libel claim against Dr Jo Grady over her response to him highlighting the anti-social behaviour of a group of train passengers on @Twitter.
Despite years of divisive scapegoating rhetoric from the UK Govt, the right-wing press, Spiked, GB "News", shock jocks, & people like Braverman, Farage, Laurence Fox, & #30pLee, the UK public now have among the most positive attitudes to diversity & immigration on earth!
"The most dramatic shifts have come in the US, Canada and, in particular, Britain, where the share of people saying there should be strict limits — if not an outright ban — on immigration has more than halved from 66% on the eve of the EU referendum to 31% last year." 🇬🇧
The unexpected success of right-wing authoritarian populist anti-immigration politics may have shocked previously complacent moderates into vocalising their support for #diversity.
We see similar shifts in the public’s attitude towards members of other ethnic groups & faiths.
“We need some action in our legislatures at the federal and state level for better gun control,” he said in an interview with MSNBC a day after the mass killing outside Premium Outlets in Allen, Texas. “And I’m saying that as someone who loves guns.”
The state’s unhinged Republican governor, Greg Abbott, went on Fox News to insist that 'the dearth of adequate mental health services' was the true culprit for mass shootings - despite fewer than 5% of violent cases having mental health links.
The use of inoculation within the public relations industry is not novel. The current study shows that organizations, when able, should proactively respond to astroturf attacks rather than ignore the attack.
Responding proactively with an inoculation message significantly improved crisis outcomes such as attitudes & behavioral intentions compared to no response. This is important, as crisis literature doesn't explicitly recommend organizations respond to all paracrisis situations.
US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen has warned of a “constitutional crisis” that risks economic & financial catastrophe if Congress does not raise the federal debt limit, with the US government in danger of running out of cash.
The White House & Republican lawmakers are in a stalemate over lifting the debt ceiling, which Yellen has said could be breached as early as June 1. Her comments came two days before Joe Biden was scheduled to meet congressional leaders in new talks on the fiscal impasse.
“If Congress fails to meet its responsibility, there are simply no good options.” The Biden administration has considered whether they could invoke the 14th amendment of the US Constitution to continue issuing new debt without legislative approval.