Made a laughing stock by the national and local media last week for introducing fines of up to £100 for swearing in public, Labour controlled Thanet District Council (TDC) is now likely to face the full force of the law for illegally introducing the swearing ban and everything else which goes with it in the first place.
In a 14 page letter to TDCs Head of Legal Services, Ingrid Brown[1], the Free Speech Union (FSU) claims that the Council’s Public Spaces Protection Order, which includes the swearing ban, the fines, and many other draconian interferences with human rights, is without legal foundation.
The FSU argues convincingly that the order fails to comply with the regulations governing its application by the Council, that public consultation about the order was insufficient and flawed, that the evidence to justify the application of the order is not compelling, that the order is unclear in its definitions of what actions constitute a breach, and that order falls foul of rulings made by the European Court of Human Rights.
If the order is not revoked and major changes are not implemented to make it lawful , the FSU will be submitting an application to the High Court for a judicial review which will cost the cash strapped council a small fortune.
In a blog two weeks ago I raised doubts about the legality of the order and the unfair and disproportionate impact it will have on some of the most vulnerable people in Thanet which could, in some cases, lead to criminalisation. I also warned that the order would undermine human rights to assemble, demonstrate, protest and freely express views. It seems as though I was right.
The fact that this order was a Labour initiative, with the vocal support of councillors Tricia Austin and Becky Wing of Thanet Green Party, sickens me. Having been a member of both parties I believed that both were based on compassion and care for the vulnerable in society and that both were strong supporters of human rights. Indeed it was the Labour Party which introduced the ground breaking Human Rights Act in 1998.
Sadly in Thanet this is not the case, and our so-called progressive politicians, presumably including newly elected Labour MP Polly “Parachute” Billington who appears to have remained silent on this important matter, appear to be happy to allow enforcement officers to abuse their powers and harass, bully and intimidate alcoholics, drug users, people with disabilities or mental illness or homeless people sleeping rough, and to disrupt and unlawfully interfere with legitimate public assemblies.
It surprises me that this dictatorial order was allowed to get to the approval stage. Surely TDC and its elected councillors must have known that their profoundly undemocratic plans were sailing close to illegality?
Even more surprising is that the Council’s +£100k per year Head of Legal Services and Monitoring Officer, Ingrid Brown, who has over twenty years’ experience as a lawyer, 12 of those as a senior local government lawyer, and who is personally responsible for ensuring that TDC obeys the law, signed off the order as being legally acceptable when it now appears that it might not be. Questions must be asked about her judgment now that the cash strapped council faces the prospect of a very expensive judicial review.
My view is that the Council has no choice but to withdraw the PSPO with immediate effect. There are already numerous other laws in place which deal with the matters included in the order, which are applied within the framework of Human Rights legislation.
The PSPO on the other hand is a fundamentally anti-democratic “get tough” vanity project being pushed through despite its potential illegality, by wannabe PoundShop Putin, Council leader Rick Everitt, his spinless Labour Cabinet colleagues and his shameful bottom licking fan club that is otherwise known as the Thanet Green Party.
As a proud member of the Human Rights Campaign Group Liberty I believe that the use of PSPOs by local authorities should be banned.
[1] The FSU letter can be read here