The Right to Protest

On the 29th of April Prince William and Kate Middleton will be getting married in London. What is likely to be a grand occasion will undoubtedly be met by a range of different reactions from the British public. Some will be jubilant in celebration, whilst others apathetic and some outright opposed to the notion of their marriage even being televised.

There is one group, however, who want to hold a protest outside Westminster Abby. This protest, one which by all accounts is expected to be peaceful and outside the direct line of the wedding and extremely unlikely to disrupt the wedding itself, has been blocked by the police.

Under UK law to protest it is a legal requirement to gain permission from the police. In all likelihood the police will grant permission and the protest will go as planned, however in certain situations the police can deny permission, as they have done on Royal Wedding Day.

My question is, is it just for the police to prevent members of the British public from protesting simply because of an overpriced wedding?

Delving deeper into the issue it is perhaps prudent to divulge what the protest is actually about. The proposed demonstration is organised by a group called 'Muslims against Crusades'. They are Islamist extremists who believe that the Royal Wedding is an affront to all the Muslims around the world suffering due to British colonialism. They believe that Prince William is a representation of the British army, an army which they feel is a destructive force towards Islam and Muslim countries. They are extremists, and there website is illuminating if rather extreme reading. For anyone interested here it is: http://www.muslimsagainstcrusades.com/

If you think you might have heard of them before they are the group famous for burning poppies on Armistice day.

Another thing worth noting is when Muslims against Crusades announced their intentions to protest, the right-wing extremist group the English Defence League (EDL) announced they planned to organise a counter-demonstration. The EDL are a group of people who claim to be opposed to extremist Islam but are considered to be a far-right, racist group who oppose all Islam and Muslim immigration.

This counter-protest organised by the EDL has also been refused permission.

Unless you are an extremist Muslim or a far-right lunatic then I am assuming that you, like me, have absolutely no time for either group. The EDL are a nasty piece of work and Muslims Against Crusades seem deluded and represent an aspect of Islam which is offensive and potentially dangerous.

But is that reason enough to deny them permission to protest? I am not sure. On the one hand I think the right to protest and the further right to freedom of speech, are very important. Yet at the same time it seems that nothing positive can be gained from these protests. Perhaps the harm to the British public we experience from not being allowed to protest at any given time at any given place is less harmful than the offense caused by these two extremist groups. Perhaps not.

I am apathetic towards the Royal Wedding, but is it fair that two people should have their wedding hijacked by opportunist, extremist groups?

Who's liberty is more important?