Amnesty International UK, Liberty and Greenpeace handed a 200,000 signature-strong petition into the Home Office 

Petition calls on Government to scrap anti-protest legislation introduced by previous governments 

Festive tunes included ‘The 12 Days of Protest’, ‘In the Gagged Midwinter’ and ‘Away in a Police Car’ 

Photos and video available here 

‘Peaceful protest is absolutely fundamental to a free and fair society, a right for which people have had to fight long and hard’ – Sacha Deshmukh 

A choir of carol singers serenaded the Home Office in Westminster today, but rather than seeking ‘figgy pudding’ or a hot drink they were demanding an urgent meeting with the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, about the crackdown on protest rights in the UK.  

They represented the concerns of three respected human rights and environmental groups - Amnesty International UK, Greenpeace and Liberty - and over 200,000 petitioners who are urging the Government to scrap the anti-protest restrictions introduced by previous governments. 

Dressed in Christmas jumpers and Santa hats, the carollers sang adapted renditions of festive favourites such as ‘The Twelve Days of Protest’, ‘In the Gagged Midwinter’ and ‘Away in a Police Car’. They were carrying a giant red banner reading ‘Protect the Right to Protest’.  

Among the singers were Sacha Deshmukh, Akiko Hart, and Areeba Hamid, the heads of Amnesty International UK, Liberty and Greenpeace respectively. They delivered the petitions to the Home Office as well as a letter to Yvette Cooper demanding an “urgent meeting to discuss the state of protest rights in the United Kingdom”. 

It comes almost five months after more than 90 organisations wrote to the Home Secretary urging her to “reverse the crackdown” on peaceful protests set in train by previous governments and requesting a meeting to discuss their concerns. No one from the Home Office has acknowledged this letter or agreed to a meeting. 

Previous governments have pursued a deliberate strategy to criminalise and shrink the space for peaceful protest in the UK. The widely-criticised Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, the Public Order Act 2023, and Public Order Act 1986 (Serious Disruption to the Life of the Community) Regulations 2023 have restricted particular protest tactics and given the police excessive powers. This has resulted in hundreds of protesters being arrested - for as little as marching down a street and climate activists receiving jail sentences of up to five years for turning up on a Zoom call where a protest was being discussed. 

Sacha Deshmukh, Chief Executive of Amnesty International UK, said: 

“We are calling on the Government to undo the very serious human rights damage done under previous governments by repealing draconian anti-protest laws introduced in recent years.  

“Peaceful protest is absolutely fundamental to a free and fair society, a right for which people have had to fight long and hard. 

“Without the right to protest, everyone’s ability to hold the powerful to account suffers. We saw this just last week in South Korea when public protest was fundamental to protecting human rights and freedoms when they came under grave threat. 

“More than ever, people must be able to speak up and question what we’re witnessing unfold here in the UK and across the wider world - from an unchecked climate catastrophe, to the human rights crisis in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, to the human rights violations we see occurring in Iran, Sudan and China among many other countries. 

“The Public Order Act, the Serious Disruption Regulations, and the anti-protest measures in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act have had a chilling effect in this country, and they need to be consigned to the history books as soon as possible.” 

Areeba Hamid, Co-Executive Director of Greenpeace UK, said: 

“Today we sent some singers to try to stop the Home Secretary sleep-walking into a dystopian future where peaceful protest is no longer permitted. The UK has a proud history of protest that has led to many of the freedoms we enjoy today, but our reputation as a right-respecting democracy is under threat. The anti-protest laws may have been brought in by the last government, but people are feeling their harmful effects on Yvette Cooper’s watch. Surely the Home Secretary won’t leave carol singers out in the cold?” 

Akiko Hart, Director of Liberty, said: 

“Being able to protest isn’t a privilege, it is a hard-fought for right which the public overwhelmingly supports. But over recent years, successive governments have created a  hostile environment for protesters, criminalising people who take to the streets to hold the powerful to account.   

“From Votes for Women to Pride, our society is better for the protests that have come before us. We need a Government that listens to, rather than punishes, those who speak out on important issues. Today, with almost 200,000 people having signed our joint petition, we are calling on Yvette Cooper to review and repeal the dangerous anti-protest laws that make a mockery of our democracy.”