Latest editorial
A woman holds up a placard as people gather in Clapham Common, London, in March 2021
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.
ANSELM ELDERGILL explains why the rule of law is fundamental to our liberty and welfare
After NGOs and the EU, UN condemns Germany’s crackdown on Palestine Solidarity, writes LEON WYSTRYCHOWSKI
ANSELM ELDERGILL examines the government’s proposals to further limit the right of citizens to trial by jury