London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Former Police Chiefs Warn UK is Drifting Towards 'Paramilitary' Style Policing With New Crime Bill

Former Police Chiefs Warn UK is Drifting Towards 'Paramilitary' Style Policing With New Crime Bill

The Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Bill being pushed through parliament includes serious criminals being released half-way through their jail terms, as well as allowing up to ten-year sentences for "nuisance" protestors.

An ex-police chief issued a stark warning on Sunday that the UK's protest laws are moving Britain dangerously towards “paramilitary policing” and that lawmakers “flexing their muscles via their police forces” can be compared to the world's repressive regimes.

Michael Barton, the former chief constable of Durham and fellow former police leader Sir Peter Fahy told the Guardian that new protesting laws in parliament represent a threat to civil liberties, already diminished after a year of emergency coronavirus restrictions.

Currently passing through parliament, the Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Bill will give further powers to officers to tackle protests, including protests that “intentionally or recklessly" cause "public nuisance” – defined partly as a “serious annoyance” or “serious inconvenience."

“I’m not in favour of even more restrictive measures. Surely after an historically unprecedented year-long curfew, in peacetime, the government could show some common sense and gratitude for such incredible forbearance to allow civil liberties to once again flourish," said Barton, who previously served as head of crime operations for policing across the country, and headed the Durham constabulary until 2019.

He then asked if the UK would be "happy to be linked to the repressive regimes currently flexing their muscles via their police forces?"

“Fortunately, in the UK we are not a paramilitary-style police force. But these powers dangerously edge in that direction. Police chiefs will be seen as the arbiters of what is and is not allowed when it comes to protest. Democracies thrive on protest. This government has condemned what has happened in the Ukraine but those same protesters would fall foul of our new laws."

Barton said the shift conflicted with the policing by consent arrangement, with law enforcement being “citizens in uniform” integrated within their communities as "police officers are telling people what to do, not negotiating with them."

“I don’t see anything wrong with the current laws. Protests sometimes means people are inconvenienced," he added.

Fahy, who was chief constable of Greater Manchester police and the former vice-chair of the police chiefs’ body, described the proposed laws as a mistake that policing in danger.

He accused the move as being "political driven" and pointed to the 1970s when trade unionists were nailed by the authorities.

“It is short-term and politically driven,” he said.

“It is a reaction to what happened with Extinction Rebellion and Black Lives Matter [protests], in the same way Ricky Tomlinson was a reaction to the industrial strife of the 1970s. Policing was drawn into a particular stance and pose."

He added that it reminded him of "the miners’ strike when policing was mobilised for a political reason."

"It took policing a long time to recover. Policing should be very careful not to be drawn into the situation of being arbiters of which protests can go ahead, and become stuck in the middle. The policing of protest can cause long-term damage."

Fahy continued, stressing that policing is "not always about the majority, sometimes it is about protecting rights of the minority. I’m not sure a mature democracy should have the police deciding which protests should go ahead."


​The new legislation also introduces a start and finish time for protests and establishes limitations on noise at static protests as well as on single-person demonstrations.

The comments come after 10 arrests were made on Friday during a “Kill the Bill” protest in opposition to the new proposed laws.

A report is scheduled to be published later this week about accusations against Metropolitan police officers of heavy-handed tactics at a vigil on Clapham Common for the late Sarah Everard earlier this month.

Officers were filmed grappling with women at the event, which led to calls for the resignation of Met commissioner Cressida Dick.

Home Secretary Priti Patel ordered a report, which is expected to come out on Monday or Tuesday from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, which will determine if the response was necessary.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
×