Top Tory attacks party's 'ill-defined' anti-protest bill after backlash over coronation arrests

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A high-ranking Tory has called his own party's anti-protest bill 'too crude' and 'ill-defined' after police say faced backlash over its use to arrest coronation protesters.

Former cabinet minister David Davis said the arrest of six protesters, including Graham Smith, chief executive of the anti-monarchy group Republic , was an example of the flaws in the bill.

Mr. Davis was the only Tory MP to oppose the government's Public Order Act, which gives police new powers to end protests before they happen by lowering the bar for 'serious disruption' .

The bill, which was implemented days before the coronation, also prohibits slow marching and can result in a six-month prison sentence for activists who use tactics to "lock down " the buildings.

Mr. Davis told BBC Radio 4's Today program that the police had a "very difficult job" with major events such as the coronation warned: "They have to watch it for democratic rights as well as to make sure that the days are not wasted.

"The police and the Home Office have to figure out exactly how they are protecting our democratic rights while protecting the day of thousands of people."

< p>Mr Davis asked the House Home Affairs Committee to bring in police chiefs to gather evidence on how to enforce the Public Order Act, saying the bill was “defined very broadly" and called for a centralized set of guidelines on how it should be applied. "If we want to do it, we have to do it right, do it centrally and get the same level of democracy in across the country," Davis said.

Mr. Davis has asked the Home Affairs Select Committee to gather evidence on how to enforce the Public Order Act from police chiefs

Sir Peter Fahy, former Chief of La Greater Manchester Police, agreeing with Mr Davis, told the program that the Public Order Act was "ill-defined and far too broad".

"We see the consequences of this, in especially for the police, who have...