As first reported by the Telegraph, Redbridge Council has agreed not to renew its speech-restricting Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) — which criminalises wolf whistling and much else — after the FSU wrote to them pointing out it was unlawful and threatening a judicial review!
PSPOs were originally set up under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act in 2014, and were aimed at helping councils crack down on issues like prostitution or drinking alcohol in specific areas. However, local authorities across the country are using PSPOs to impose increasing numbers of fines of up to £1,000 for a range of activities, including loitering, swearing or even walking a dog in the wrong place.
At the FSU we’ve analysed the PSPOs of 15 local authorities around the country, and found numerous examples of speech-related overreach — one council is even proposing to bring in a new PSPO-linked code which could see “discourteous” street performers banned from the borough.
Speaking to the Telegraph about our latest victory, Dr Bryn Harris, the FSU’s Chief Legal Counsel, said: “It seems that councils are overusing them, essentially to set their own local criminal laws.”
“One of the main problems is that a lot of them are criminalising conduct which causes ‘alarm or distress’ with no safeguards for free speech,” he added.
“Why is that a problem? Let’s say you want to protest on the streets and talk about someone dying and unbeknownst to you, this causes someone distress.
“That makes you liable, even if you didn’t intend it and couldn’t have foreseen [it],” Dr Harris explained. “That is why safeguards are absolutely necessary to preserve freedom of expression.”
Our success with Redbridge Council is just the start of a free speech fight back against the use of these “busybody charters”, which as Dr Harris says, is increasingly “out of control”.
Following a legal letter from the FSU, Cumberland council has also now said it will amend and extend its consultation on a new PSPO — the council had been proposing to update its existing PSPO by introduce a ‘code of conduct’ for traders and street performers that stated they must “always be courteous to members of the public” and must also be “calm and polite”.
What we do is only possible because of the financial support of our members and donors. The enemies of free speech fight in packs. It’s defenders need to band together too.
Join the FSU and support the fight back. Together we can cancel cancel culture.
