Council leader on town centre protests: "Enough is enough"

Enough Is Enough aims to draw Government attention to the adverse impact on businesses and residents.

It is being led by Rotherham Borough Council leader Cllr Chris Read: “Repeated protests, largely by people from outside the local community, are holding Rotherham back.

“They make people feel unsafe in their own town and neighbourhoods and they’re bad for business.”

There have been 14 protests in three years — mostly in response to the CSE scandal — and the policing bill alone has topped £4 million.

The petition calls on the Government to look again at the current legislation around protest activity, given the frequency and impact on communities in Rotherham. The Home Office is currently reviewing the law.

Cllr Read said: “We want to see justice for the victims of child sexual exploitation and their families, and it’s quite right that people want and need the council and police to do better than in the past.

“We are committed to doing so. We support the right to freedom of protest but this repeated disruption is now helping no-one.”

Read more about the campaign in this week’s Advertiser and sign the petition at www.rotherham.gov.uk/enough.