Faith and belief leaders urge MPs to approve changes to Policing Bill
Quakers in Britain have convened a joint faith and belief letter to MPs ahead of final votes on the Policing Bill.
The letter asks MPs to support the Lords' amendments to Part 3 of the bill, including removing the ability to put noise limits on protests.
It urges MPs to speak out against measures that remain unchanged in the bill, particularly those that will disproportionately affect marginalised communities.
Paul Parker, Recording Clerk of Quakers in Britain, signed letter alongside 80 other faith and belief representatives. He said:
“This joint letter shows the strength of feeling that this bill is incompatible with our shared values of equality and justice. It endangers our human rights and has no place in our democracy. We urge MPs to support amendments to mitigate its impact. We will hold them in the Light as they discuss these important issues."
Mia Hasenson-Gross, Executive Director of René Cassin, the Jewish voice for human rights said:
"As the Policing bill returns to the Commons, communities of faith and belief must stand together to defend our rights to public worship and protest in the face of marginalisation. We cannot remain silent as our fundamental human rights to protest and raise our voices are stripped away. Nor will we stand idle while our Gypsy and Traveller friends, with whom we share a history of persecution in Europe, are criminalised and robbed of their culturally nomadic way of life."
Zara Mohammed, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, said:
“The Police, Crime Sentencing and Courts Bill impinges greatly upon our fundamental rights to freedom of assembly and expression, and the public's ability to hold the Government to account. It will undoubtedly exacerbate pre-existing disparities in policing and the criminal justice system and target already marginalised communities. We stand together, across faith communities, in support of the Lords' amendments to this bill, and urge MPs to act to protect our civil liberties when this bill returns to the Commons."