The activist/protestor wedge and the new policing bill
The reason for the criminalization of protests which might cause annoyance hinges on an aesthetic of law and order. It is primarily an attack of the Extinction rebellion protests, which are often unpopular with the public. An appeal is being made to public safety, the protestors are few, the regular public is larger. One would struggle to find a public demonstration looked at favorably by the general public, which is often the point. The public protest has been more representative of left-wing politics, unions, and anti-authoritarianism for an awfully long time. With the Conservative's surprise majority, criminalizing protestors is an open goal.
The old adage: social issues divide the left and unite the right, economic issues divide the right and unite the left, is quite apt here. The bill invites the left to scream fascism or the end of democracy and divide themselves between the danger of this bill and the issues associated with policing. Whereas, the right is quite comfortable suppressing the dilemmas inherent in policing. The foundational right-wing theorists, Schmitt, Machiavelli, and Hobbes assume law and police exist to mitigate the dangers of human nature. The violence of protests can never be justified for the right and will cause Labour politicians to condemn their allies. Violence in protest is not necessary but it seems this policy is inviting it, to the extent that violent protests erupted in Bristol shortly after its second reading.
The Conservative government, of course, does not want violence, quite the opposite. They want to deter protest(or)s. This bill itself will not achieve this, but more violence can be in their favor. One need only look at how anti-lock-down protests do not devolve into police violence and left-wing protests do. In fact, police are 3 times more likely to use force on perceived leftists, although it is possible that leftists are more prone to violence. Why protests devolve into police violence is quite difficult to explain. However, increased police force on protestors is going to cause more violence and increase protestors’ savior complexes.
Priti Patel had previously described BLM protestors as “thugs”, under this law protestors become de jure “thugs”. At the time of writing this essay, Labour politicians who do not condemn the “stop the bill” protest face public dissatisfaction or in the case of Nadia Whittome, pressure to resign. The bill is not a trend toward dictatorship but partisan hackery and should be treated as such. Putting social progressive and ‘serial’ protestors in the same category removes political legitimacy toward their policies. The bill is another victory for the regressive right and a firm wedge in the future of the left-wing.
