CAMPAIGNERS have condemned the government’s mounting authoritarianism after it was announced yesterday that police will be granted new powers to crack down on protests.

The measures follow a mass demonstration in support of proscribed campaign group Palestine Action in which nearly 500 people were arrested in central London on Saturday for peacefully holding signs.

The government plans to amend sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 so that police can consider the “cumulative impact” of protests.

Under the changes, police could instruct organisers to hold protests elsewhere if a site has seen repeated demonstrations.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will also review existing legislation, including powers to ban demonstrations outright.

At present, a ban is only possible if there is a risk of “serious public disorder.”

Greenpeace UK’s co-executive director Will McCallum said: “Protest works because it is repetitive.

“If police had told the suffragettes or civil rights activists ‘you’ve made your point,’ they would never have won the victories we all enjoy today.

“The Home Secretary must immediately withdraw this dangerous step towards authoritarianism.”

Ms Mahmood said that “large repeated protests can leave sections of our country, particularly religious communities, feeling unsafe” and that this was evident in the Jewish community.

On Friday she called for pro-Palestine protesters to “step back” from demonstrations following an attack on a Manchester synagogue in which two people were killed the day before.

Yesterday Stop the War accused the government of weaponising the attack to ramp up its crackdown on the Palestine movement.

The group’s convener, Lindsey German, said: “We condemn the attack on the Manchester synagogue, just as we condemn recent attacks on mosques and hotels accommodating asylum-seekers.

“We wholeheartedly reject the implication that our peaceful marches are in any way responsible for the attack.

“Stop the War has never conflated Israel’s illegal actions with the British Jewish community and will continue to vociferously oppose any attempt to do so.”

Following Thursday’s tragedy, London’s Metropolitan Police urged Defend Our Juries to cancel its demonstration against the ban on Palestine Action.

Campaigners went ahead and staged the silent protest, which was joined by Jewish activists, including the daughter of a Holocaust survivor.

Ahead of the demonstration, Jewish activist Zoe Cohen said: “Fifty-three Palestinians were also killed on Thursday, and they have names and stories too.

“Every life matters. When I was brought up learning about the Holocaust and we said ‘never again,’ I learned that this means ‘never again’ for anyone.

“The Met could have chosen to prioritise protecting communities and places of worship today rather than arresting peaceful protesters, many elderly and disabled people, for holding a homemade sign.”

Police arrested 488 activists for holding cardboard signs saying “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” backing the group, which targeted Israel-linked arms factories before it was banned as a supposed terror organisation on July 5.

At least 2,000 people have now been arrested taking part in such protests.

A Defend Our Juries spokesperson said the new police powers “confirms what we’ve warned all along: the proscription of Palestine Action was never just about one group: it’s a dangerous authoritarian escalation that threatens everyone’s right to protest in our country.

“The Home Secretary’s extraordinary new affront to our democracy will only fuel the growing backlash to the ban.”

Police across the country have exercised discretion in applying the ban. In Truro, officers chose not to make any arrests during a protest on Saturday. Forces in Edinburgh, Derry, Totnes and Kendal have also chosen not to arrest protesters at similar actions.

A spokesperson for the Network for Police Monitoring said: “The protest in Truro shows that it is down to individual police forces to choose where they direct their resources, and the Met is clearly showing that their priority is arresting peaceful pensioners sitting with placards.

“Over the last two days, there has been an ongoing smear campaign to conflate pro-Palestine protests with the horrendous anti-semitic actions of the Manchester attacker, with politicians and pundits manipulatively and cynically using what happened to try to undermine people protesting a genocide by a far-right Israeli government.”

Defend Our Juries has announced another series of demonstrations from November 18 to 29, which will coincide with the High Court review of the ban on Palestine Action.