A coalition of 30 animal protection groups is uniting to oppose the anti-protest bill - here’s how you can help
Animal protection law firm Advocates for Advocates is leading the way once again in the fight against the UK government’s controversial anti-protest bill, gathering together more than 30 animal justice groups including Surge in signing an open letter voicing our collective opposition. Here’s everything you need to know.
Since its announcement, the UK Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill 2021 - otherwise known as the anti-protest bill - has done nothing but stir up controversy due mainly to its terrifyingly ambiguous wording. Never before have so many been so afraid of causing “serious inconvenience” resulting in an almost ludicrous - if it wasn’t so serious - sentence of up to ten years in prison.
Ironically, in the month since we first covered this issue, opposition to the bill has given rise to even more protests and acts of civil disobedience, many of which have escalated dramatically causing widespread disruption. The very thing that the bill attempts to quash has only worsened, and when faced with impending legislation that could give the Home Office and police draconian powers with little if any parliamentary oversight, there is plenty to justify the outrage.
While many are taking to the streets to speak out against what experts have labelled “the most significant threat to our freedom of speech in decades” the team at Advocates for Animals (AfA), the UK’s first animal protection law firm, have rallied the troops, so to speak, in taking a somewhat more moderate but no less important approach. As AfA co-founder and solicitor Edie Bowles stated in her recent piece for Surge - Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill: Why you should be worried - for animal campaigners and grassroots activists, there is much to be concerned about:
“I am sure every animal activist can think of how their protest activities may lead to unease or distress; after all explaining what animals go through can be distressing to hear. It is also true that many activists' activities are seen as a serious inconvenience or annoyance, especially to those who wish to hide what is going on.”
The concern is most definitely shared throughout the animal advocacy community, and we want politicians to hear us. To this end, more than 30 animal protection groups - covering the full spectrum from animal welfare charities to grassroots direct action groups - have joined forces in signing an open letter written by AfA that details all the many issues with the bill in its current form. The wording of the letter spells things out clearly for the politicians who could well be thinking of voting it through the next stages.
The letter - which you can read in full here - has already been sent to the members of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, the leaders of all the major parties and key political figures either holding relevant office or known to champion animal or green issues. These include Zac Goldsmith, who has campaigned extensively against live export; George Eustice, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and head of Defra; and Caroline Lucas, former leader of the Green Party and MP for Brighton Pavillion. Sympathetic parliamentary groups including the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation (CAWF) and Labour Animal Welfare (LAW) have also been sent the letter.
Already we have received positive assurances from a number of recipients that the letter will be raised in political forums, while Caroline Lucas of the Green Party said: “People’s ability to stand up for causes they feel passionately about, such as the protection of animals, will be curtailed by the Policing Bill. Extensive powers are being handed to the police and the Home Secretary to ban protests for the flimsiest of reasons. Advocates for Animals set out very clearly the dangers lurking in this Bill and why it should concern us all, whatever our reason to want to protest.”
Rather than adopt an outright #KilltheBill approach, the open letter and accompanying campaign instead appeals to the more moderate sensibilities of those who voted the bill through its second reading, mostly Conservatives. While there was majority support for the new legislation, comments made by Tories at the time revealed that many did not expect it to pass into law in its current form, acknowledging the imperfect wording.
It is our hope that by identifying both the issues with the wording from a purely legal standpoint, but also how it will have serious repercussions that extend beyond animal justice to all social justice issues, we can help those politicians come to their senses and either support drastic amendments or simply not vote it through.
From an article penned by PETA and being shared widely by the animal protection coalition:
While change for animals never comes quickly enough, society is evolving and waking up to the idea that animals are not things but living, feeling beings like us. As a result, we’ve seen legislation banning fox hunting and wild-animal circuses, hundreds of fashion labels have dropped fur and angora, and thousands of companies have committed to never testing their cosmetic products on animals.
How have we seen this remarkable shift towards animal rights? Well, like most social progress, it didn’t come about by quietly calling for change but by bold public displays and protests.
And so long as animals are still skinned for frivolous fashion accessories, tormented in the name of “sport” or “entertainment,” or caged in laboratories or on farms, we must keep protesting. Getting animal issues into the public eye is the only way we can stop abuse.
To ensure we can continue to campaign through protests and demonstrations, take affirmative action for both human and non-human animals, and yes, cause some serious inconvenience from time to time, we need your help and that of our combined supporter base.
You represent the voice and the will of the people. Imagine a world in which protests had never taken place throughout history. How different would our social landscape be today?
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Contact your MP and share your concerns that the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill 2021 could impede efforts by animal protection groups – and other social justice groups – to prevent exploitation of individuals recognised by law as sentient.
Send your MP the open letter and ask them to vote against the current version of the bill.
Share this article or others you see from the groups listed below with your social network, your friends and family, and ask why they’re not as outraged as you.
OPEN LETTER SIGNATORIES
Animal Aid; Animal Equality UK; Animal Justice Project; Animal Protection Agency; Animal Rebellion; Catholic Concern for Animals; Christian Vegetarian Association; Compassion in World Farming; Cruelty Free International; Crustacean Compassion; Four Paws UK; Freedom for Animals; Greyt Exploitations; Hunt Saboteurs Association; Jay Mehta Mahavir Trust; League Against Cruel Sports; Dr Simon Brooman, Senior Lecturer in Law, Liverpool John Moores University; OneKind; Open Cages; People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA); Respect For Animals; The Shellfish Network; Surge; Dr Steven McCulloch, Senior Lecturer in Human Animal Studies at the University of Winchester; The Animal Advocacy Project; The Animal Interfaith Alliance; The Humane League UK; Viva!; Whale and Dolphin Conservation; Wild Welfare, and World Animal Protection.
Andrew Gough is Media and Investigations Manager at Surge.
Your support makes a huge difference to us. Supporting Surge with a monthly or one-off donation enables us to continue our work to end all animal oppression.
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