Schools need protest exclusion zones, government adviser says

Protests within 150 metres of schools should be banned, a senior government adviser has recommended.

The call comes after a review examined protests including at Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire in 2021.

They occurred after pupils were shown a cartoon of the prophet Mohammed during a lesson, and led to the teacher's suspension.

A wider issue of eroding social cohesion is cause for concern, adviser Dame Sara Khan said.

Dame Sara, who led the review, told BBC Breakfast that the former Batley teacher remains in hiding to this day despite being cleared of ill intent, and has never been legally recognised as a victim of harassment.

He was the victim of what she has termed "freedom-restricting harassment", she said.

"The idea that people should be able to create that kind of environment outside of schools… is just unacceptable," she said.

There were two days of protests outside the school gates, with demonstrators demanding the sacking of the teacher in question - and accusing staff of failing to take the issue seriously..

On the second day - the last before Easter holidays that year - the school switched to remote learning.

The teacher in question told the review he felt let down by West Yorkshire Police.

In response, the police said it was aware of the concerns in the report, that it took threatening behaviour seriously and measures were put in place to manage the incident and the repercussions which resulted from it.

The review, commissioned by the UK government, is recommending a 150-metre (165 yards) exclusion zone be set up outside of schools in England, within which most forms of protests would be banned.

Dame Sara – a human rights campaigner who advises the government on social cohesion – said a narrow range of protests would be allowed within the zone, such as teachers who are picketing as part of industrial action. However, any intimidatory demonstrations would be excluded.

Under current laws, protests in a fixed place such as at school gates are legal providing they do not trespass or damage private property, nor obstruct anyone unless police have given permission.

Protesters also have a legal obligation to respond to police if officers allege a public order offence is being committed.

Dame Sara said the proposed exclusion zones would be enshrined in law and policed in a similar way to abortion clinics.

Last year, Parliament voted through changes to the Public Order Act that set up "safe access zones" outside abortion clinics or hospitals providing abortion services. These are also 150-metre zones in which protests cannot be held.

The review has also recommended a new independent office for social cohesion be set up to advise the government on community relations.

There is an assumption that politicians and people in the public eye are the only ones who experience freedom-restricting harassment, Dame Sara said, but her review found that this wasn't the case.

The review polled more than 1,000 people around the UK and found that 76% felt they had restricted expressing their personal views in public, out of fear of harassment either to themselves or their loved ones.

Dame Sara told the BBC there there was no specific government strategy to manage social cohesion. - and said that a new ministerial office should be set up to provide guidance in this area.

"I worry that if we don't do that, we will see a gradual erosion of social cohesion," she said.