From face masks to flares: What are the new protest laws being set by the government?

Police in England and Wales will be given powers to arrest protesters who scale national monuments or cover their face in a bid to avoid prosecution as part of new proposals.

The measures – which will be added to the Criminal Justice Bill currently being considered by parliament – will also make it illegal to carry flares and other pyrotechnics at protests amid efforts to “crack down on dangerous disorder”, according to the Home Office.

Here are some of the new laws being proposed by the Home Office.

Climbing a war memorial:

Climbing a war memorial will carry a prison sentence of up to three months and the possibility of a fine, according to the plans.

"The people that war memorials honour gave their lives to protect our freedoms," Home Secretary James Cleverly wrote in an DailyMail op-ed.

"Nobody can reasonably claim that attacking such monuments represents the legitimate exercise of free speech," he added.

The cabinet minister first announced his stance after a group of pro-Palestinian protesters climbed on the Royal Artillery Memorial at Hyde Park Corner in London in November last year.

Face masks

Police have said that protesters “using face coverings to conceal their identities, not only to intimidate the law-abiding majority, but also avoid criminal convictions” will also be punished.

Under the new plans, the protesters could be handed a month behind bars and a £1,000 fine.

Officers already have the power to ask people to remove face coverings at designated protests – where forces believe crimes are likely to occur.

But the new offence will allow police to arrest protesters who disregard their orders.

"We cannot have individuals hurling abusive, extremist rhetoric and hiding behind a mask. There will be no more hiding from justice," Cleverly wrote in his op-ed.

Flares and other pyrotechnics

Under the reforms, possession of flares, fireworks and any other pyrotechnics at public processions and assemblies for protest will be made illegal and perpetrators will face a £1,000 fine.

The Home Office recently said that flares posed “significant risk of injury” and had been fired at police officers at protests.

Essex Police chief constable BJ Harrington, who leads the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s work on public order, said the use of flares and pyrotechnics at protests is “rare” but “they are still extremely dangerous".

He added: “Safety is our number one concern when policing these events, and the effective banning of these items during protests can only help in our mission to ensure that they take place without anyone coming to any harm.”

Campaigners are pushing back

Campaigners called the measures a “threat to everybody’s right to protest”.Akiko Hart, director of human rights group Liberty, said the measures are an "outrageous attempt to clamp down on our fundamental right to stand up for what we believe in".

“Bringing in these powers put people at greater risk of being criminalised for exercising their right to protest – including disabled people, who in some situations have only felt comfortable protesting in public when wearing face coverings," she added.

“We all have the right to make our voices heard on issues that matter to us, but this Government has continually made it harder for us to do that."

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