POWERS in the Coronavirus Act have been repeatedly abused to justify crackdowns on protest, lawyers and campaigners claimed today as pressure mounted on MPs to repeal the “draconian” legislation.

MPs are set to vote on the six-month renewal of the pandemic legislation tomorrow, one year after it passed in a matter of days with little scrutiny on March 24 2020.  

The Act handed sweeping powers to the police, including the power to detain anyone “potentially infectious,” which this week was found to have been misused in every single prosecution. 

The Home Office and police forces have also used the legislation to ban protests. 

The government has claimed that the legislation needs to be extended to ensure that measures like the furlough scheme, virtual court hearings and statutory sick pay can continue.

But campaigners and lawyers told the Morning Star ahead of tomorrow’s vote that the wide-ranging emergency powers were being used to clamp down on all kinds of protest, with increasingly severe charges being used against peaceful protesters. 

Police monitoring group Netpol has documented the potential misuse of Covid powers at 15 protests since May 2020.

Incidents include the arrest of Extinction Rebellion activists at a small socially distanced protest in November, threats to arrest asylum-seekers at Napier Barracks in Kent, and a woman who was fined £500 for allegedly organising a protest following the death of a young man after he was released from police custody in Cardiff. 

More recently a nurse was fined £10,000 under Covid regulations for organising a protest against poor pay in Manchester, despite carrying out a risk assessment. 

And on Tuesday four legal observers, volunteers who operate independently of protest, were arrested during a London demo against the policing Bill, in a move described as “unprecedented” by lawyers. 

Netpol co-ordinator Kevin Blowe told the Morning Star that the policing of protest had been a “complete abuse of what those powers were intended to be used for.”

Concerns over Covid-19 regulations being used to clamp down on  protests were brought to national attention earlier this month following the heavy-handed policing of a vigil for Sarah Everard at Clapham Common. 

But Mr Blowe said the incident was the latest in a long line of gatherings shut down or refused permission by police, ranging from small socially distanced protests to larger anti-lockdown protests. 

Covid-19 restrictions on gatherings have changed numerous times since the first lockdown, with exemptions on protest being added and removed. 

Lawyers have also raised concerns about the long-term impact of the regulations on the right to protest if it is renewed. 

Joint head of Garden Court Chambers Rajiv Menon told the Morning Star: “It’s that chilling effect. I think that’s the primary problem with it. 

“Any measure by the state that either directly restricts the right to protest or sends a message out to the public that protesting is dangerous or potentially will fall foul of the law … is very dangerous in a democratic society.”

Mr Blowe added that the powers in the Act have been “transformed” into the government’s new policing Bill — “something that’s going to be long term and permanent.” 

Solicitor Richard Parry, who has been representing protesters at anti-lockdown demonstrations, accused ministers and the police of “losing sight of their duty to uphold the fundamental right to protest,” warning that regulations have been misinterpreted and have breached human rights legislation.