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BRITISH democracy was downgraded yesterday from “narrowed” to “obstructed” in a major annual report on the state of civic freedoms worldwide.
Research tool Civicus Monitor said that the new rating means “freedoms of expression, assembly and association are now being continuously undermined.”
The Tory government’s introduction of restrictive laws and attacks on the right to protest — including via the widely condemned Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act last year and the Public Order Bill, currently going through Parliament — represents “key violations of civic freedoms,” it charged.
Poland, Hungary, South Africa and Sri Lanka are among the other 39 countries classed as “obstructed,” with only “repressed” and “closed” considered more extreme.
Liberty’s head of policy and campaigns Ruth Ehrlich said: “We all want our elected governments to protect the basic principles of democracy, yet this downgrade shows how this government has repeatedly worked to put itself above all accountability.
“Civil liberties in Britain are not just under threat, but are actively being stripped away — this report is a rallying cry to all those who care about human rights.”
