Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 5 hours ago
We’ve known Neil for around 20 years as both a performance artist and a protest-rights campaigner.
When the government enacted restrictions on protest near Parliament under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) in 2005, Neil was often seen in his Charlie Chaplin Great Dictator guise. He even delivered a wonderful Keystone Cops moment, which appears in our 2006 documentary “SOCPA – The Movie.” You can watch the trailer here: youtube.com/watch?v=J2VfNccSbAg
If you’d like to support Real Media’s work, please consider making a donation at https://realmedia.press/donate/— supporters receive a link to the full hour-long documentary as a thank you.
Back to the present: new and deeply concerning anti-protest powers are planned for England and Wales, allowing police to factor in the “cumulative impact” of protests. This shift comes at a moment marked by large mass protests and the arrests of participants in the
@DefendOurJuries
‘Lift the Ban’ demonstrations in support of Palestine Action.
The amendment would mean when a senior police officer is deciding whether to restrict a protest, they can take into account any cumulative disruption caused by past protests — even if they were organised or attended by completely different people.
It was great to see Neil again outside the High Court last week during the Palestine Action Judicial Review. Neil's work not only embodies the importance of the right to protest, but his decades of activism show that the fight is far from over.
Palestine Action Judicial Review begins and Lift The Ban protesters outside High Court, Read more: https://realmedia.press/pal-action-jr-1/
We’ve known Neil for around 20 years as both a performance artist and a protest-rights campaigner.
When the government enacted restrictions on protest near Parliament under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) in 2005, Neil was often seen in his Charlie Chaplin Great Dictator guise. He even delivered a wonderful Keystone Cops moment, which appears in our 2006 documentary “SOCPA – The Movie.” You can watch the trailer here: youtube.com/watch?v=J2VfNccSbAg
If you’d like to support Real Media’s work, please consider making a donation at https://realmedia.press/donate/— supporters receive a link to the full hour-long documentary as a thank you.
Back to the present: new and deeply concerning anti-protest powers are planned for England and Wales, allowing police to factor in the “cumulative impact” of protests. This shift comes at a moment marked by large mass protests and the arrests of participants in the
@DefendOurJuries
‘Lift the Ban’ demonstrations in support of Palestine Action.
The amendment would mean when a senior police officer is deciding whether to restrict a protest, they can take into account any cumulative disruption caused by past protests — even if they were organised or attended by completely different people.
It was great to see Neil again outside the High Court last week during the Palestine Action Judicial Review. Neil's work not only embodies the importance of the right to protest, but his decades of activism show that the fight is far from over.
Palestine Action Judicial Review begins and Lift The Ban protesters outside High Court, Read more: https://realmedia.press/pal-action-jr-1/
