The Christian Institute and other civil liberty organisations have launched a campaign to reform clause 1 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill that could catch street preachers and carol singers. Under the clause, a court can grant an Injunction to Prevent Nuisance and Annoyance (IPNA) if someone “has engaged or threatens to engage in conduct capable of causing nuisance or annoyance” to any person. IPNAs are easier to grant, and require a lower threshold of evidence than Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, known as ASBOs. In a piece for The Daily Telegraph, Philip Johnston said the new IPNAs would be deployed against “easy targets” while others “get away with terrorising their neighbourhoods. Lord Macdonald also said: “Of course political demonstrations, street performers and corner preachers may be ‘annoying’ to some but, he added, “The danger in this Bill is that it potentially empowers State interference against such activities in the face of shockingly low safeguards”.

Pray: for the concerns raised to be heeded and for Clause 1 to be amended to exclude preaching, carol singing. etc. (Gal.5:1)

More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/new-asbo-law-could-catch-carol-singers/