There is a world of difference between free speech and the right to voice your opinion, and interfering with other people's right to go about their business unimpeded.
What we call 'The King's Peace' is the British sense of fair play. You can do whatever you like as long as you don't interfere with my equal right to do the same. Where those two try to occupy the same space, then the current majority opinion will prevail and the minority suppressed.
Breaching the King's Peace is a public order offence.
The right to protest in the UK is the right to be heard and listened to voluntarily, not to dominate proceedings or act in a manner that heads towards terrorism. Where there is intelligence that physical disruption was on the cards, the authorities are right to step in and head it off. That is the British way.
Most people in the UK still support the monarchy. Nobody stopped Spiked publishing their views on Republicanism, and nobody was forced to read it. That's free speech.
If the individuals objecting had waved a few placards and otherwise been respectful to those whose views differ from their own they would have been left alone. They didn't do that and were removed. I suspect that was the idea since that leads to greater publicity.
> The right to protest in the UK is the right to be heard and listened to voluntarily
A bit difficult to get heard once you get arrested for having violated no law… Funny that when putin does this to political opponents he's a dictator, but king charles is a great guy uh?
What we call 'The King's Peace' is the British sense of fair play. You can do whatever you like as long as you don't interfere with my equal right to do the same. Where those two try to occupy the same space, then the current majority opinion will prevail and the minority suppressed.
Breaching the King's Peace is a public order offence.
The right to protest in the UK is the right to be heard and listened to voluntarily, not to dominate proceedings or act in a manner that heads towards terrorism. Where there is intelligence that physical disruption was on the cards, the authorities are right to step in and head it off. That is the British way.
Most people in the UK still support the monarchy. Nobody stopped Spiked publishing their views on Republicanism, and nobody was forced to read it. That's free speech.
If the individuals objecting had waved a few placards and otherwise been respectful to those whose views differ from their own they would have been left alone. They didn't do that and were removed. I suspect that was the idea since that leads to greater publicity.