“Parliament needs to listen and people should have the right to get their voices heard” says Green Assembly Member Jenny Jones, who is also a former member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, citing the police’s “duty to facilitate peaceful protest in this country”.
Jenny Jones was arrested this morning at Parliament Square when visiting the protestors there. She was witness to a close friend being arrested as part of the protest in defence of civil liberties and the right to protest. She was released soon afterwards.
Jenny is former member of the Metropolitan Police Authority and is deputy chair of the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee. She has been a consistent advocate of civil liberties and has worked closely with the police on how protests should be facilitated.
Jenny Jones said, “The police have a duty to facilitate peaceful protest in this country which people have a legal right to do, but that appears to end as soon as you come within shouting distance of the Westminster village. The people who run this country should not be able to tuck demonstrators away out of sight. Parliament needs to listen and people should have the right to get their voices heard.”
Jenny has written about her arrest and the implications for the right to peaceful protest in the Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/24/arrested-parliament-square-free-speech-occupy-protest-arrest