TORY laws criminalising peaceful protests must be overturned, human rights groups and environment campaigners told the government today.

An open letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, signed by 92 organisations, has urged the new Labour government to reverse a “deliberate strategy by previous governments to criminalise and shrink the space for peaceful protest in our democracy.”

The letter said the government faces “a clear choice between allowing its dire consequences to play out under its watch or do something to prevent it.”