Police arrests of anti-royal protesters across Britain have provoked a public backlash, with rights campaigners, politicians and commentators decrying a “heavy-handed” crackdown on free speech following King Charles III’s accession to the throne.
Paul Powlesland, a barrister and environmental activist, was moved on from Parliament Square in London and warned by police officers on Monday, who told him that he would be arrested for a public order offence if he wrote “not my King” on the blank piece of paper he was holding.
In Edinburgh, videos on social media showed a young man being dragged to the ground by bystanders and taken away by police officers after calling Prince Andrew “disgusting”, as Queen Elizabeth’s son walked behind her hearse.
While hundreds of thousands of mourners have lined the streets and are set to queue to pay their respects to the Queen, who died last Thursday at the age of 96, the accession of her son has stirred some republican sentiment.
Scottish police said they made three arrests relating to breaches of the peace on Sunday and Monday, while the late monarch’s coffin was being transported through Edinburgh. One of those arrested was a 22-year-old woman carrying a sign calling for the abolition of the monarchy.
“Protest is not a gift from the state, it is a fundamental right,” said Jodie Beck, policy and campaigns officer at Liberty, the civil rights campaign group.
“It is very worrying to see the police enforcing their broad powers in such a heavy-handed and punitive way to clamp down on free speech and expression,” she added.
Meanwhile, a 45-year-old man was arrested in Oxford on suspicion of a public order offence after shouting during an accession proclamation of King Charles: “Who elected him?”
Thames Valley Police said on Tuesday the man had since been freed.
Powlesland said overzealous policing risked being counter-productive and that he planned to return to Parliament Square on Tuesday evening, this time with a sign that reads “not my King” to stress the point.
“It is disingenuous to suggest that anyone who opposes the accession of King Charles is somehow disrespecting the Queen,” he said, adding that “having respectful, dissenting voices is important”.
In response to the incident at Parliament Square, deputy assistant commissioner of the Met police Stuart Cundy said: “The public absolutely have a right to protest and we have been making this clear to all officers involved in the extraordinary policing operation currently in place.”
Roughly 10,000 police officers are being deployed in London ahead of the Queen’s funeral next Monday in anticipation of huge crowds of mourners. Among them will be many foreign dignitaries, including US president Joe Biden. Military personnel will also be out in force.
Sir Mark Rowley, who began the role of Met commissioner on Monday, has described the occasion as a “massive challenge” for the police.
Ruth Smeeth, formerly a Labour MP and now chief executive of Index on Censorship which campaigns for freedom of expression, said: “We must guard against this event being used, by accident or design, to erode in any way the freedom of expression that citizens of this country enjoy.”
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