Thousands of people have been protesting against the government’s police, crime, sentencing and courts bill, which would allow police to take a more proactive approach in managing protests, but many worry is an attempt to restrict the right to protest Rachel Humphreys talks to Mark Townsend , the Observer’s home affairs editor, about the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill. It would allow the police to take a more proactive approach in managing highly disruptive protests, but critics believe it is an attempt to curb the public’s right to protest. Townsend tells Humphreys that the Extinction Rebellion protests in 2019 and the Black Lives Matter protests last year both played a part in why the government is keen to pass this legislation. Guardian reporter Damien Gayle looks at why the BLM protests had such little support from the home secretary, Priti Patel, while the environment reporter Matthew Taylor discusses how the Extinction Rebellion movement and its use of civil disob