Weekly Round Up: Met Police accused of using quashed power, hunger strike prisoners hospitalized, Bailey appeal dismissed, Danish “Ghetto Packages” likely discriminatory
22 December 2025
Photo: indigonolan, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In the News
UK News
The Guardian and Liberty Investigates have conducted an investigation into the Metropolitan police’s use of “cumulative disruption” as a justification to impost restrictions on protests. Liberty Investigates is an editorially independent investigative journalism group based in the civil liberties organization, Liberty.
According to the research and review of evidence obtained under freedom of information laws, the Met has used “cumulative disruption” against at least protests despite their power to do so being quashed in a May 2025 ruling.
However, the Met has used the cumulative disruption to ban or impose conditions on two pro-Palestinian groups since that ruling. On May 7, 2025, the Met banned the Jewish pro-Palestine group, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN), from holding its weekly meeting in North London citing “cumulative impact on the local Jewish community”. That ban has been renewed weekly since May 2025. In November 2025, the Palestine Coalition was forced to change the route of their march by the Met due to the “cumulative impact on businesses” in the area.
Both the Met and the Home Office assert that officers still have the authority to take cumulative disruption into account when imposing restrictions on protests. The Met argues that their consideration of cumulative disruption is lawful in efforts to balance the right to protest and ensuring that “serious disorder or serious disruption” does not result from protests. The Home Office stated that the Public Order Act 1986 implies the discretionary use of cumulative disruption, but future amendments will make its use explicit.
Prisoners on Hunger Strike Hospitalised
Amu Gib, age 30, and Kamran Ahmed, age 28 have been taken to hospital as their hunger strike continues. Gib was awaiting trial at HMP Bronzefield in Surrey, while Ahmed was located at Pentonville in London. The two prisoners are on day 50 and 28 of their hunger strikes, respectively. A total of six prisoners have been admitted to hospital since the hunger strikes commenced on November 2, 2025; they are affiliated with Palestine Action. The group of prisoners are being held over alleged participation in break-ins at the Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems in Bristol, and a Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire.
The prisoners are now at a critical stage and over 800 doctors, nurses and therapists have written to Justice Secretary David Lammy warning him of the immediate risk of death and that they are dying.
Members of Parliament, including Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnel and Barry Gardiner, have also written to the government citing concerns over the delays in medical assistance, “unreliable” healthcare treatment and limited family communication. In addition, over 50 MPs urged the Justice Secretary, David Lammy, to meet with the lawyers of the prisoners on hunger strike. According to the MPs, their inquiries remain unanswered or received “vague reassurances” from the government. On December 18, 2025, Sinn Féin confirmed it also sent Secretary Lammy a letter of concern.
A Spokesperson for HMP Bronzefield that all prisoners have access to healthcare including access to clinicians, assessment, support and external facilities when needed. Minister for prisons, Lord Timpson, has stated that the Prison Service is experience at handling hunger strikes but that they will not meet with striking prisoners or their lawyers.
In the Courts
Appeal against Stonewall Dismissed
On December 18, 2025 the UK Court of Appeal handed down its judgement, dismissing the appeal in Allison Bailey v Stonewall Equality Ltd & Others. The parties to the appeal included: Allison Bailey, a barrister formerly of Garden Court Chambers; Stonewall Equality, a charity which promotes LGBT+ inclusion; Garden Court Chambers; and two senior members of Garden Court Chambers.
The appeal is related to events stemming from 2018 and 2019. Garden Court Chambers joined Stonewall’s Diversity Champions Scheme in 2018; in 2019, Ms. Bailey published social media posts criticising Stonewall’s support for gender self-identification. Complaints about the social media posts were made to GCC, including a complaint from Stonewall. GCC undertook an investigation and concluded that the posts likely breached Ms. Bailey’s professional obligations.
Ms. Bailey’s claim in the Court of Appeal was brought under the Equality Act 2020, alleging that Stonewall instructed, cause or induced GCC discriminatory conduct under section 111 of the Act. As such, the Court had to determine whether Stonewalls’ complaint amounted to unlawful causation of inducement of discriminatory conduct and if the organisation was liable as a consequence.
The Court of Appeal upheld the findings of the Employment Tribunal in that Stonewall’s complaint was the “occasion for the report” and not the effective cause of discriminatory actions [at para 68]. The causal chain between the complaint and discrimination was broken by GCC’s own decisions and actions, for example, reopening the investigation [at para 70-71]. The Court ruled there was no evidence that Stonewall induced or attempted to induce GCC’s conduct in a way that meet s.111 liability [at para 89].
The case therefore clarifies the distinction between being an occasion of an outcome and the legal cause under s.111 of the Equality Act 2020.
European Court of Justice: Denmark’s “Ghetto Packages” Likely Racially Discriminatory
The Grand Chambers of the European Court of Justice handed down its judgement in a claim against Denmark and its “Ghetto Package” on December 18, 2025. The Chambers has determined that the legislation “constitutes unlawful racial discrimination” that violates the EU’s Race Equality Directive. Residents of Mjølnerparken, Copenhagen filed a claim against the state’s Ministry of Social Affairs and Housing in May 2020 with the support of the Open Society Justice Initiative.
The “Ghetto Package” was introduced in 2018 and targeted neighbourhoods classified as having “non-Western” residents for elimination. The Danish government made express link between race and negative stereotypes regarding unemployment, education attainment, gender equality and observance of Danish values. By contrast, “Western” neighbourhoods with majority-White populations that had the socioeconomic characteristics as the non-Western ones were not targeted for elimination.
The Court held that public family housing provided in return for rent falls within the material scope of Directive 2000/43 as a supply of services [at paras 50–67]. It clarified that “ethnic origin” is an autonomous EU law concept, linked to shared characteristics such as nationality, culture, religion or tradition, and must be interpreted uniformly across the EU [at paras 71–83]. The Court explained that direct discrimination arises where a person is treated less favourably in a comparable situation on grounds of ethnic origin, while indirect discrimination may occur where an apparently neutral criterion particularly disadvantages persons of a given ethnic origin [at paras 87–100]. National legislation classifying housing areas by reference to the proportion of “immigrants from non-Western countries and their descendants” may therefore give rise to discrimination, depending on whether that criterion is intrinsically linked to ethnic origin [at paras 88–92]. The Court did not rule on the existence of discrimination itself, leaving it to the referring Danish court to apply this interpretative framework to the facts of the case.
