PROPOSALS at Westminster to strengthen powers to crack down on environmental and climate protests were condemned by campaigners today. 

Home Office Minister Baroness Williams of Trafford pushed for a series of changes to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill after green groups including Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion (XR) staged protests targeting major roads in recent months.

Claiming that climate activists had “overstepped the line,” the Tory peer said that there should be tougher sentences for blocking motorways and roads and that police officers should be allowed to stop and search anyone at a protest “without suspicion” for “locking-on.”