Last week I took a day trip to Margate. Not to enjoy a swim in the sea, but in the hope of having a debate with a member of Thanet district council about its proposed ban on swearing. A few days before, when the ban was being discussed, a Labour councillor had challenged me to come to Margate, where he promised to give me a piece of his mind. ‘If you’d like to come down here and meet me I’d be more than happy to tell you exactly what I think of you and there might be the odd expletive in it,’ he said. Not sure that’s the best way to defend a swearing ban, Councillor. I posted a video on the Free Speech Union’s social media channels saying I’d be on Margate beach at 10.30 a.m. on Tuesday and looked forward to meeting him.
Needless to say, he didn’t turn up. I even managed to gain access to the council’s offices and went in search of him and Rick Everitt, Thanet’s leader, but they were nowhere to be found. Were they working from home? Perhaps they were put off by the two vans I’d hired to follow me around, each displaying a huge billboard advertising the ban. ‘Stubbed your toe?’ one of them read. ‘Remember, it’s a crime to swear in Thanet.’
Going to these lengths to challenge a swearing ban may seem excessive. Was this something the Free Speech Union should be campaigning on? In fact, we’ve been at it for some time. The same council tried to ban swearing last year, but withdrew its proposal when we threatened legal action. The issue then was that the ban was too vague and broad, covering not just ‘foul and abusive’ language – terms which have no legal meaning – but also congregating in groups and misogyny, defined as ‘behaviour… that results in a loss of dignity or respect’. We argued it was far from clear what would be covered by the swearing ban – could you be fined £100 for telling someone to bugger off? – and the other provisions risked criminalising peaceful protest. The council backed down, but is having another go.
We think there’s an important principle at stake. Under sections 59-75 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, councils can introduce Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) enabling ‘enforcement officers’ to fine residents for engaging in supposedly unacceptable behaviour. They were intended to enable councils to tackle prostitution, loitering or drinking alcohol in specific trouble spots, but they have to be carefully drafted so as not to fall foul of the law. According to section 72 of the act, councils must have ‘particular regard to the rights of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly’ under Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, a duty we think Thanet has failed to discharge.
Could you be fined £100 for telling someone to bugger off?
At least a dozen councils are abusing this power too and we’re not the only ones who think the increasing use of these orders is cause for alarm. In the US State Department’s annual report on human rights abuses across the world, published last week, the prevalence of PSPOs was mentioned as one of several ‘areas of concern’ in the UK. The report singled out the use of these orders to ban protests outside abortion clinics, something J.D. Vance raised at the Munich Security Conference. But there are other examples of overreach, leading to PSPOs being nicknamed ‘busybody charters’. Last year, we pointed out to Redbridge council that its ban on cat-calling was unlawful and it agreed not to renew it. Other speech restrictions that have been imposed by PSPOs cover amplification, making noise and shouting.
So far, the Free Speech Union has prevailed whenever it has threatened legal action against an overzealous local authority, and we expect to succeed against Thanet. Trying to limit freedom of expression and assembly without interfering in people’s convention rights is a piece of needle-threading that is beyond the legal departments of most councils – if they even bother to consult their lawyers. An earlier iteration of Thanet’s latest PSPO would have had the effect of banning the consumption of alcohol in licensed premises, which is prohibited by the 2014 act. It’s also flat-out insane. Thanet council was effectively going to force every pub in Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs to serve nothing but soft drinks. Good luck getting re-elected.
I have some sympathy for councils that want to make use of these powers to target specific types of anti-social behaviour and we offered to sit down with Cllr Everitt to help him draft a legally watertight PSPO, but he refused. Like most town-hall tyrants, he knows best. For the sake of his ratepayers, I hope he doesn’t waste money trying to fight us in court.
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