The right to protest is under threat in Britain, undermining a pillar of democracy

But the damage to Britain’s democratic foundations may be lasting.UK activists face harsh penalties for peaceful protests, raising concerns about the government's intent to suppress legitimate protest.

For holding a sign outside a courthouse reminding jurors of their right to acquit defendants, a retiree faces up to two years in prison. For hanging a banner reading ‘Just Stop Oil’ off a bridge, an engineer got a three-year sentence. Just for walking slowly down the street, scores of people have been arrested.

They are among hundreds of environmental activists arrested for peaceful demonstrations in the U.K., where tough new laws restrict the right to protest.

The Conservative government says the laws prevent extremist activists from hurting the economy and disrupting daily life. Critics say the arrests mark a worrying departure.

“The government has made its intent very clear, which is basically to suppress what is legitimate, lawful protest,” said Jonathon Porritt, an ecologist and former director of Friends of the Earth.

Britain is one of the world’s oldest democracies, home to the Magna Carta, a centuries-old Parliament and an independent judiciary. That system is underpinned by an “unwritten constitution” — a set of laws, rules, conventions and judicial decisions accumulated over the years. The result is “we rely on self-restraint by governments,” said Andrew Blick, author of Democratic Turbulence in the United Kingdom and a political scientist at King’s College London. “You hope the people in power are going to behave themselves.” But what if they don’t? During three scandal-tarnished years in office, Boris Johnson pushed prime ministerial power to the limits. More recently, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak asked Parliament to overrule the U.K. Supreme Court, which blocked a plan to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda.

Critics say cracks have appeared in Britain’s democratic foundations.