Was a new law to blame for the coronation protest arrests?

The Metropolitan Police apologised for arresting anti-monarchical demonstrators, writes John Rentoul

Protesters from ‘Just Stop Oil’ are arrested near Westminster Abbey before the coronation (AFP/Getty)

David Davis, the civil libertarian Conservative MP, pointed out in the House of Commons that it was embarrassing for the government that the new Public Order Act should have backfired on its first test. Perhaps the law should be looked at and changed again, he suggested.

It is possible that the new law did play some part in the Metropolitan Police arresting six protesters from the anti-monarchy pressure group Republic, who were then released with an apology.

Some parts of the controversial act came into effect only on 3 May, three days before the coronation. These included provisions setting out the “offence of locking on” and the “offence of being equipped for locking on”, the section on “processions, assemblies and one-person protests” and the section setting out the “meaning of serious disruption”.