Yesterday Steve Bray, the 'Stop Brexit Man' who has spent many days outside parliament protesting against Brexit and calling for the government (and the country) to reverse the decision had his equipment ceased and he could be prosecuted under the 'Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act' which was passed on Tuesday. This act introduces an offence of intentionally and recklessly causing a public nuisance. It's an attempt to try and stop the tactics of climate change protestors like Extinction Rebellion who have brought parts of London and the M25 to a standstill on a number of occasions.
Now I've seen Steve Bray protest, and yes he is noisy, I'll give you that, but he stands alongside other occasional and more regular protestors around Parliament Square, passionate about his campaign and wanting to be heard. One MP described her pleasure at his arrest and described his noisy protests as violent, but many others have stood by him, saying 'yes he is annoying, but it should be his right'.
Whatever we think about his cause and methods, the very public confiscation of his equipment and threat of persecution is disturbing, because it is a sign of what this bill could do. As humans in a free country we have a right to protest, it is enshrined in human rights law, however this bill says that if it is annoying or too noisy then it can be shut down, just like that. Carefully worded, the bill doesn't sound that bad, but many people are worried about what it might mean for our future right to protest.
As a Baptist, one of my core values is one of dissent. The Baptist Movement began under persecution - One of the founders of the General Baptists, Thomas Helwys was arrested and imprisoned because of his views and campaigning on the separation of church and state. Jesus was crucified by the religious and political powers of the day - his very existence challenging established religion and speaking of a power greater than the ruling Roman Empire. Inspired by this Baptists believe that neither the state or institutional church can dictate what to think or how to behave. Freedom is a key value and all should be able to participate in the political process.
When voices are silenced, their ability to take part in the political process is suppressed. We are in a situation, which is not new, but is swinging in a dangerous direction, where the voices of the elite, the Oxbridge educated, those with more money and resources than they know what do with, those with connections, those subscribing to divisive ideologies and who are actively challenging a convention of human rights that has been around for decades have the loudest voices in politics. Where the volume is turned down on protest, where fear of speaking out is filtering out into the nation, these voices can only get louder, and the voices of the majority will be silenced.
Protest has had a part to play in many great movements in history and continues to do so today. Silenced voices are heard when people choose to speak up. Solidarity with and freedom for the oppressed has been found because people have protested. Trade Unions, Votes for Women, the Civil Rights Movement in the US... more recent the Black Lives Matter movement and Climate change protestors have raised new voices in ongoing justice struggles. History shows that where people rise up, authorities crack down - the Peterloo Massacre, the imprisonment of suffragettes, Selma.
We might see the attempt to silence Steve Bray as an incident that will pass by and its only one man with one agenda, but the big question is what is to come ahead, and whose voice will be silenced next. As we see our government question our fundamental human rights on protesting, we cannot help but draw parallels with the loss of human rights of those who are destined to be on the next flight to Rwanda and we've got to ask where this is going to stop. The path ahead looks murky and dangerous. Where is our voice in that? What does walking in the way of Jesus look like down this road?
Jesus said this:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour" Luke 4:18-19
Image from https://www.flickr.com/photos/garryknight/34976963870
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