• Login
  • Register
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Premium
  • Donate
  • Log In
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result

Free Speech Victory As Councils Shelve ’Busybody Charters’

by Richard Eldred
14 April 2024 5:00 PM

Free speech campaigners are claiming success in their battle against what they call ‘busybody charters’, as councils are starting to withdraw Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) following legal challenges. The Telegraph has the story.

Local authorities across the country have used Public Spaces Protection Orders to impose increasing numbers of fines of up to £1,000 for a range of activities, including loitering, swearing or even walking a dog in the wrong place.

One council is even proposing to bring in a new PSPO-linked code which could see “discourteous” street performers banned from the borough.

Breaching the terms of a PSPO is a criminal offence and can result in a fixed penalty notice. Failure to pay the fine within 28 days could lead to being hauled in front of a court to face either a prison sentence or a larger fine.

The Free Speech Union (FSU) has analysed the PSPOs of 15 local authorities around the country, and says it has found numerous examples of overreach. In some cases, they have written to councils to threaten judicial review.

Bryn Harris, the FSU’s Chief Legal Counsel, said the use of PSPOs – known to their critics as “busybody charters” – has become “out of control”. …

PSPOs were set up under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act in 2014.  They were aimed at helping councils crack down on issues like prostitution or drinking alcohol in specific areas.

But some of the PSPOs analysed by the FSU have been extended to cover an entire borough. In London, both Haringey and Waltham Forest councils outlaw behaviour likely to cause “harassment, alarm or distress” across their entire boroughs.

“Why is that a problem?” Mr. Harris asked. “Let’s say you want to protest on the streets and talk about someone dying and unbeknownst to you, this causes someone distress. 

“That makes you liable, even if you didn’t intend it and couldn’t have foreseen [it]. That is why safeguards are absolutely necessary to preserve freedom of expression.”

Worth reading in full.

Tags: Freedom of SpeechGovernment overreachLocal AuthoritiesPSPOsThe Free Speech Union

Donate

We depend on your donations to keep this site going. Please give what you can.

Donate Today

Comment on this Article

You’ll need to set up an account to comment if you don’t already have one. We ask for a minimum donation of £5 if you'd like to make a comment or post in our Forums.

Sign Up
Previous Post

Majority of Children Unhappy With Gender Grow Out of It, Study Shows

Next Post

Hate Crime Laws Send Humza Yousaf’s Popularity Plunging

Subscribe
Login
Notify of
Please log in to comment

To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.

Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.

1 Comment
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
varmint
varmint
1 year ago

“harrassment” “alarm” “distress” “offence” etc etc etc. All totally subjective. They can mean different things to different people at different time and different places, depending on who said what and maybe based on your personal opinion of that individual etc etc. ———In other words a total clutter of nonsense and a waste of everyone’s time. ———You can only be offended with your own consent.

58
0

NEWSLETTER

View today’s newsletter

To receive our latest news in the form of a daily email, enter your details here:

DONATE

PODCAST

The Sceptic EP.37: David Frost on Starmer’s EU Surrender, James Price on Broken Britain and David Shipley on Lucy Connolly’s Failed Appeal

by Richard Eldred
23 May 2025
7

LISTED ARTICLES

  • Most Read
  • Most Commented
  • Editor’s Picks

News Round-Up

28 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

How to Defeat the Westminster ‘Blob’

27 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

Tommy Robinson Released From Prison

27 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

GB News’s ‘Anti-woke’ Comedy Show Faces Axe After Thousands of Complaints

27 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

What is ‘The Movement Forward’?

28 May 2025
by Charlotte Gill

News Round-Up

19

Tommy Robinson Released From Prison

32

GB News’s ‘Anti-woke’ Comedy Show Faces Axe After Thousands of Complaints

33

What is ‘The Movement Forward’?

13

Tory MPs to Boris Johnson: Thanks, But no Thanks

22

The Net Zero Agenda’s Continued Collapse Into Chaos

28 May 2025
by Ben Pile

Alasdair MacIntyre 1929-2025

27 May 2025
by James Alexander

Lies, Damned Lies and Casualty Numbers in Ancient History

26 May 2025
by Guy de la Bédoyère

Lord Frost: “The Boriswave Was a Catastrophic Error”

26 May 2025
by Laurie Wastell

The Legal Case Against the AfD Has Collapsed

25 May 2025
by Eugyppius

POSTS BY DATE

April 2024
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930  
« Mar   May »

SOCIAL LINKS

Free Speech Union

NEWSLETTER

View today’s newsletter

To receive our latest news in the form of a daily email, enter your details here:

POSTS BY DATE

April 2024
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930  
« Mar   May »

DONATE

LISTED ARTICLES

  • Most Read
  • Most Commented
  • Editor’s Picks

News Round-Up

28 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

How to Defeat the Westminster ‘Blob’

27 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

Tommy Robinson Released From Prison

27 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

GB News’s ‘Anti-woke’ Comedy Show Faces Axe After Thousands of Complaints

27 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

What is ‘The Movement Forward’?

28 May 2025
by Charlotte Gill

News Round-Up

19

Tommy Robinson Released From Prison

32

GB News’s ‘Anti-woke’ Comedy Show Faces Axe After Thousands of Complaints

33

What is ‘The Movement Forward’?

13

Tory MPs to Boris Johnson: Thanks, But no Thanks

22

The Net Zero Agenda’s Continued Collapse Into Chaos

28 May 2025
by Ben Pile

Alasdair MacIntyre 1929-2025

27 May 2025
by James Alexander

Lies, Damned Lies and Casualty Numbers in Ancient History

26 May 2025
by Guy de la Bédoyère

Lord Frost: “The Boriswave Was a Catastrophic Error”

26 May 2025
by Laurie Wastell

The Legal Case Against the AfD Has Collapsed

25 May 2025
by Eugyppius

SOCIAL LINKS

Free Speech Union
  • Home
  • About us
  • Donate
  • Privacy Policy

Facebook

  • X

Instagram

RSS

Subscribe to our newsletter

© Skeptics Ltd.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Premium
  • Donate
  • Log In

© Skeptics Ltd.

wpDiscuz
You are going to send email to

Move Comment
Perfecty
Do you wish to receive notifications of new articles?
Notifications preferences