Peace protester Brian Haws sits handcuffed after being arrested by police on Parliament Square ahead of the Queen's speech. Photograph: Ian Nicholson/PA
For weeks, a permanent Glastonbury has been set up on Parliament Square. While we all support peaceful protest, it is completely unacceptable for this public square to become a campsite in the heart of central London, when it is meant to be a place for everyone to enjoy. We welcome the mayor's plans to take action and remove the protestors as it is unfair for a major part of our city to be occupied and turned into a no-go area by vociferous minorities, however laudable their causes of land reform, sustainability and self-sufficiency may be.
The campsite may have been dubbed "democracy village" by some, but what the protestors have effectively been doing is taking away others' freedoms.
Londoners and visitors have not been able to enjoy the public square when more than 40 tents prevent them from walking across it and enjoying it. Every day while the protestors remain, our street cleansing teams are having to dispose of at least a tent's worth of waste from the square. In addition, the creation of a permanent home on the square has stopped others, with causes that are just as important, from being able to protest there. It is not right that anyone else who wants to highlight an issue cannot take their cause to the square because it is overcrowded with tents, compost lavatories, an oak sapling and vegetable plots.
As well as the disruption caused to ordinary workers and tourists who are prevented from going about their daily business and enjoying the Unesco world heritage site, the police have been diverted from policing local communities and tackling crime. It is clear that the present legislation is not working and new laws are required to ensure everyone can enjoy the square and give other groups the opportunity to legally protest there. New legislation is urgently needed to enable the police to intervene effectively in cases of prolonged demonstrations, or where there are real public order or nuisance problems. We need powers to regulate and police the square.
In Westminster, we want to see effective legislation, backing the police to do what is appropriate in a civil, democratic and peaceful society. Parliament needs to turn its mind to this and pass the necessary laws as soon as possible. We want to work with the police and the Greater London Assembly to make sure that this situation does not happen again, in order that everyone – be they workers, tourists or other protestors – can use the square. We hope that the campsite is removed as soon as possible.
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