right to protest | Pandaemonium

PROTEST AND DEMOCRACY

May 25, 2023 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on why democracy cannot function without protest, was my Observer column this week. It was published on 21 May 2023, under the headline “Once we ask the Lee Anderson question, our democracy is on a slippery slope”. “I’ve looked at your website and it says you embrace democracy,” Tory MP and Conservative Party deputy chair Lee Anderson said to Graham Smith, chief executive of the anti-monarchist campaign group Republic, during a Parliamentary Select Committee hearing last week. “If you embrace democracy so […]

Categories: Britain, Justice & Liberties • Tags: anti-union laws, democracy, lee anderson, policing, public order act, right to protest, trade unions

LIBERTARIANS WHO WOULD DENY LIBERTY

December 21, 2021 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on Tory libertarians, was my Observer column this week. It was published 19 December 2021, under the headline “Strange beasts, these ‘libertarians’ who love to curb the freedom of others”. When is a libertarian not a libertarian? When, apparently, it is the wrong kind of people whose liberties are being curtailed. The past week has seen so-called “libertarian” Tory MPs rebel against the government’s Covid plan B – the necessity for vaccine certificates or negative tests to attend large venues, mandatory vaccinations […]

Categories: Britain, Justice & Liberties, Politics • Tags: asylum seekers, david davis, illiberal conservatism, libertarianism, liberties, marcus fysh, nationality and borders bill, police, police crime sentencing and court bill, right to protest, rightwing libertarianism, tory libertarians, walter bagehot

PROTESTS & POLICING AFTER THE PANDEMIC

March 16, 2021 by Kenan Malik

. This essay, on the government’s new policing bill, was my Observer column this week. (The column included also a short piece on the new government policy of “unlevelling down”.) It was published on 14 March 2021, under the headline “If you thought the right to protest was inalienable, then think again”. The next time you take part in a protest, don’t shout too loudly, don’t get in anybody’s way and don’t cause a commotion. Best to sit quietly in a corner […]

Categories: Britain, Justice & Liberties, Politics • Tags: cressida dick, free speech, police, priti patel, protests, reclaim these streets, right to protest, rights, sarah everard