The police should be able to take into account the "cumulative impact" that demonstrations can have on the local community, announces the country's Ministry of the Interior.
If a protest, for example, takes place at the same location week after week, and disrupts public order, the police should be able to order the organizer to move the demonstration.
The initiative comes in the wake of recurring pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Most recently, nearly 500 people were arrested on Saturday at a protest in London in support of the banned group Palestine Action.
"The right to protest is a fundamental freedom in our country. This freedom must, however, be balanced against the neighbors' right to live their lives without fear", says Minister of the Interior Shabana Mahmood in a statement.
The extended powers will be given through a change in the British Public Order Act and be in place "as soon as possible".
The Minister of the Interior also intends to take a broader approach to legislation. The police's power should be "sufficient and applied consistently", through, for example, the possibility of completely banning individual demonstrations.
Defend our juries, which organized Saturday's protest in London, calls the Minister of the Interior's move "authoritarian" and a way to "silence the opposition" on social media, reports BBC.
