Re: Mahmood Banning Marches
I think Ms Mahmood has set a nasty precedent banning the proposed march in part "... due to the scale of the protest and multiple counterprotests, in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East".
The particular march is an annual event plus it will be a lot lot smaller than other marches that have happened before so "scale of march" is complete rubbish. Similarly "in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East" - people don't protest whe everything is going well, morally and there is nothing to protest about.
So it's actually the "multiple counterprotests" and that is the one that sets the precedent. If "UK Field Sports Unlimited" proposed to protest against the fox hunting ban, then I could concort 10 organisations (register a few domains and create a few websites) and ask permission to counterprotest and ... blocked the pro-foxhunting protest. Easy way to block people from protesting saying you intend to counter-protest.
... Lost freedom (thank you Ms Mahmood, but I guess she's achieved her aims).