Standing With a Sign Shouldn’t Mean Prison: Why We Took Action Yesterday

Yesterday, campaigners from Protect the Wild, Animal Rising, and members of the public came together in London for a Day of Action against the government’s attempt to quietly expand anti-protest powers under the Public Order Act.

We gathered outside the Home Office with one clear demand:
withdraw the proposal to classify animal testing facilities as “key national infrastructure.”

If pushed through, this change could mean that simply standing peacefully with a sign outside an animal testing facility is treated as a national security threat, carrying the risk of up to a year in prison.

This action did not happen in isolation. It came off the back of an extraordinary public response:

• 5,000+ people emailing the Home Secretary in the last 48 hours

• Hundreds of handwritten postcards sent

• Almost 20,000 people emailing their MP

• More than 7,000 emails sent to members of the House of Lords

Yesterday was about making that opposition visible and impossible to ignore.

Shut out of the Home Office

At 11am, representatives from Protect the Wild and Animal Rising attempted to formally hand in an open letter to the Home Secretary, urging the government to withdraw the proposal. We were refused.

Despite the scale of public concern, campaigners were told the letter could not be accepted because we did not have a named contact inside the building.

That refusal spoke volumes.

A government willing to rush through sweeping new protest restrictions, but unwilling to even accept a letter expressing peaceful opposition, is not acting in the spirit of democratic accountability.

Taking the message to Parliament

After being turned away from the Home Office, we headed to Parliament to take the message directly to MPs.

Campaigners engaged MPs through green carding, making sure concerns about the proposal were raised face-to-face, not buried in committee papers or brushed aside as a technicality.

“This line must not be crossed”

“This proposal isn’t just about animal testing. It’s about whether peaceful dissent against controversial industries can be quietly redefined as a threat.

Today showed just how many people are deeply concerned about the direction this government is taking. People came together to say clearly that this line must not be crossed.”

Throughout the Day of Action, participants stressed that peaceful protest against animal testing has a long and legitimate history in the UK, rooted in ethical, scientific, and moral objections, and that existing laws already give authorities sufficient powers to address genuine public safety concerns.

What this proposal would do instead is chill free expression, silence ethical opposition, and set a dangerous precedent for future protest movements.

Claudia from Animal Rising spoke out:

This is far from over

Protect the Wild thanks everyone who came to London, wrote postcards, sent emails, contacted MPs and Lords, and helped turn private concern into public pressure.

Yesterday sent a clear message:
people are watching, people are organising, and people will not accept the steady erosion of the right to peaceful protest.

The government may be trying to push this through quietly but it will not go unchallenged.

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