Human Rights Act reform consultation: Scottish Government response

7. Are there any other steps that the Bill of Rights could take to strengthen the protection for freedom of expression?

166. The Scottish Government's principal suggestion would be that the UK Government takes action to reverse its own long term policy of undermining and eroding civil liberties in the UK.

167. In particular, the current Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill^[37] has been widely condemned as an attack on fundamental rights and democratic values. Whilst the Bill has only limited direct relevance to Scotland, the Scottish Government agrees with Liberty, Amnesty International and others that:

"Protest is not a gift from the State – it is a fundamental right. The Policing Bill is an attack on the rights of everyone who has a cause they believe in, from climate activists to grieving families looking for answers and justice …Protest is a core pillar of any healthy democracy. [The Bill is] a threat to our rights, and an opportunistic move from a Government determined to shut down dissent, stifle democratic scrutiny and make itself untouchable … The Bill is one part of a larger campaign by the Government to remove itself from accountability and undermine everyone's ability to stand up to power."^[38]

"Rattled by democratic protests, ministers have drawn up sweeping new policing powers which you'd fully expect to see in the pages of a novel about a future dystopian Britain … The Policing Bill is a calculated attack on our bedrock basic rights, and if passed would diminish the UK's standing in the world."^[39]

168. The illiberal inclinations of the UK Government have also been noted internationally, and constitute an ongoing source of reputational damage which embarrasses the UK on the world stage and serve to encourage and embolden repressive regimes around the globe.

169. For example, the New York Times recently opined that:

"A raft of bills likely to pass this year will set Britain, self-professed beacon of democracy, on the road to autocracy. Once in place, the legislation will be very hard to shift. For Mr. Johnson, it amounts to a concerted power grab… Amid the chaos wrought by the pandemic, Brexit tumult and increasing questions about the stability of Mr. Johnson's individual position, the full scale of the impending assault on civil liberties has — understandably — not yet come into focus for much of the British public. The list of legislation is long and deliberately overwhelming. But pieced together, the picture is bleakly repressive."^[40]