The FSU opposed the council’s new order on the grounds it could prevent a person’s right to protest peacefully due to “too vague and too broad” parameters about how they could express discontent.
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NewsTranscript
00:00This council will not be bullied, but we recognise that in responding to this challenge, we need
00:06to ensure that our position is as robust as it can be in order to protect public funds.
00:12Heated language as what has been touted as a ban on swearing on Kent's east coast was
00:17rescinded.
00:19With previous public space protection orders expiring, Thanet District Council's replacement
00:25PSPO hope to hit those using foul language in the pocket in perceived trouble hotspots.
00:33But last night the council cabinet ditched the plan after the Free Speech Union threatened
00:39to launch a judicial review in the High Court.
00:43The Free Speech Union say their problem was with the vagary of the PSPO rather than the
00:50intention to tackle anti-social behaviour.
00:54That when making PSPOs, local authorities have to have particular regard to the right
00:59of freedom of speech, and they must factor that into the formulation of it.
01:04And it's always the case with laws that the intent of somebody passing a law may appear
01:09to be relatively benign, but we need to look at not their intent, but the law as it is
01:14actually written.
01:15And this amounts to something of a local law in order to see what it actually means and
01:20I don't think if my political enemies were in charge of implementing this law, what could
01:24they make of it?
01:25How could they employ it?
01:27Thanet Council say that although the proposed PSPO included a restriction preventing the
01:33use of foul language, there have been provisions regarding the use of foul language in force
01:38in Thanet since 2018.
01:42Yet when we spoke to passers-by on the streets of Ramsgate, some swore the PSPO would make
01:49the district a better place to be.
01:51It's a good thing.
01:52I think it's a really good thing.
01:53It's a good thing, yeah.
01:54It's a really good thing, yeah.
01:55Because you get fed up, like our ages especially, you're going around the young ones, the effing
02:01youths, the effing lasses.
02:02And you don't need it.
02:03All the other words.
02:04And you don't need it.
02:05And you don't need it, no.
02:06And I don't like it.
02:07People just don't seem to care if they swear in front of children anymore.
02:10That would be absolutely brilliant, I can't stand it.
02:13I think it's really appalling when people use swearing in their everyday language, especially
02:18if you were in Spoonies yesterday and there was somebody swearing and you have children
02:22in there.
02:23That's totally wrong.
02:24I don't think it would make a lot of difference in parts of Ramsgate in particular or Margate.
02:31The PSPO will now be redrafted.
02:34And with a public consultation to follow, last night's cabinet meeting was far from
02:40the last word on foul language in Thanet.
02:43Oliver, leader of the SACs, reporting for KMTV.