CONCERN that new legal advice to Police Scotland about road closures could affect Orange Order parades might have been muted among many Scots. But a new and more worrying dimension is added with the realisation that this advice could also affect smaller demonstrations by the likes of community groups, parents or local workers.
At issue is the power of the police to close roads. Previously, this was on an ad-hoc basis with different councils but the new advice prompts a more unilateral, across-the-board approach. It warns Police Scotland that, except in emergencies, its officers cannot divert or halt traffic without a court order. The cost falls on the local authority, and there’s a likelihood of it being passed on partly to march organisers.
Larger organisations might be able to withstand this but what if it puts protest out of the price range of small community groups? Can we put a price on democratic rights? It isn’t even clear how it helps. Was the system broken before the need for this added legal hurdle and associated costs?
The situation puts both councils and Police Scotland in an invidious position and the advice that put them there must be put under the widest scrutiny. Protests and parades exist to be seen (hence the attraction of busy streets), and full exposure of the legal rules governing them is now also required
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here