Do protests and demonstrations threaten democracy – or guarantee it?

Rishi Sunak and his government believe the Gaza protest movement is ‘as un-British as it is undemocratic’. History and common sense suggest otherwise, writes Sean O’Grady

Pro-Palestinian protesters gather at Parliament Square as MPs debate a motion on calling a ceasefire in Gaza, on 21 February 2024 (EPA)

The prime minister has seemingly started a war against something that largely doesn’t exist – “mob rule”. Rishi Sunak, perhaps pushed by some on the right of his party who value order above free speech, has warned police chiefs of a “growing consensus that mob rule is replacing democratic rule”.

Some of his rather sketchy proposals to end this supposed threat to civilisation are commonsensical and consensual – curtailing intimidatory meetings outside MPs’ homes, for example. Others are vague and merely rhetorical: “We simply cannot allow this pattern of increasingly violent and intimidatory behaviour which is, as far as anyone can see, intended to shout down free debate and stop elected representatives doing their job. That is simply undemocratic ... I am going to do whatever it requires to protect our democracy and our values that we all hold dear.”

Sunak’s remarks and use of the hyperbolic phrase “mob rule” actually suggest he shares the views of Lee Anderson about such protests, even though he has said the words used by Anderson himself were “wrong”.