OCCUPY MOVEMENT IN PARLIAMENT SQUARE

That this House notes with regret that, at a time when all political parties are encouraging greater democratic engagement, the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 is being used to prevent the use of Parliament Square by the Occupy movement as a venue for a week of discussion and debates on the nature of our democracy; further notes with concern that the Act and local byelaws are being used to hinder this exercise in people's democracy by banning the use of amplification, banners and even tarpaulins for participants to sit on; calls for a halt to arbitrary and disproportionate police action; and urges all the relevant authorities to co-operate with Occupy to facilitate rather than hinder democracy on Parliament's doorstep.