Council leader defends proposal to fine people £100 for using abusive language after Liberty says it would breach human rights

A council leader has defended plans to ban swearing in his town after free speech advocates said the £100 fines levied as punishment would breach people’s human rights.

Rochdale borough council in Greater Manchester wants to introduce a public spaces protection order, which could lead to anyone caught “using foul and abusive language’” being warned, moved on or given an on-the-spot fine.

Begging, “loitering”, antisocial parking, playing loud music, loudly revving car engines, street drinking, unauthorised charity collections and skateboarding could also be banned under the move, while under-18s could be barred from the town centre between 11pm and 6am.

Laraten Caten, the legal officer for Liberty, told the Manchester Evening News that the plans would be difficult to enforce and could criminalise vulnerable people: “These proposals would unjustifiably curb the rights and freedoms of Rochdale residents.

“The swearing ban is so vaguely defined, it would prove impossible for anyone to know whether they were breaking the law or not, while a blanket ban on begging will criminalise some of the most vulnerable people in the town.”

Richard Farnell, the leader of Rochdale borough council, retorted: “With all the horrific human rights abuses happening around the world right now, I would have thought Liberty had bigger things to worry about. We are clamping down on a small minority of antisocial ne’er-do-wells who drunkenly shout and swear and harangue shoppers in our town centre.

“I make no apologies for trying to make Rochdale a more welcoming place for people to enjoy and this is supported by the overwhelming majority of local residents. The council is spending £250m transforming Rochdale town centre and we are not going to let a small number of drunken and abusive idiots spoil it for everyone else.

“Offensive and abusive behaviour is already an offence, but police resources are stretched in dealing with this low-level crime. We are working in partnership with them to use our powers to deal with this more effectively.”

The plans, presented to Rochdale council cabinet on Monday, acknowledge that the council “must have regard to articles 10 and 11 of the European convention on human rights, which provide for the right for lawful freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, ensuring that the making of a public spaces protection order is not used to stop reasonable activities where no antisocial behaviour is being committed”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Gillian Duffy. Photograph: Gary Calton/The Observer

The swearing ban was largely well-received in Rochdale. Gillian Duffy, who was famously described as “that bigoted woman” by Gordon Brown during the 2010 election, said she thought it was a good idea. “Do I think there are foul-mouthed people in Rochdale? Among certain sections of Rochdale, yes,” she said.

“It is more common now. No one seems to bat an eyelid but I don’t like it. I never swear and I never heard my late husband swear once in all the time we were married.”

Duffy is still cross that Brown thought she had sworn at him when she asked him about eastern European immigrants in Rochdale, insisting she had asked the then prime minister: “Where are they flocking from?” rather than “Where are they fucking from?”





Duffy, 72, said she had once challenged a swearing schoolgirl on a bus going through the Falinge estate in Rochdale. “She was swearing her head off and there was this old lady – this was a while ago, I’m an old lady myself now – shaking her head and saying, ‘Oh dear, oh dear’. I said to this girl: ‘Shut your filthy mouth.’ It shocked her,” she said.



Simon Danczuk, MP for Rochdale, said: “There are a number of wrong ‘uns in Rochdale who hang around the town centre getting drunk and using foul language. People have had enough of them and the council are right to sort them out.”





