TORY plans to allow police to shut down protests before they cause “serious disruption” are “more extreme” than many counter-terrorism laws, campaigners have warned. 

Downing Street said the proposals would help officers clamp down on “guerilla” tactics largely used by environmental protesters like slow marching and blocking roads. 

Groups including Just Stop Oil have used walking protests to demand action on the climate emergency as a means to get round new laws cracking down on other forms of protest. 

No 10 said the change would mean that police “will no longer need to wait for disruption to take place and can shut down protests before chaos erupts.” 

The plans were set out on Monday in a last-minute amendment to the Public Order Bill, which is being debated in the House of Lords this week. 

Civil liberties groups and opposition MPs have warned the plans set a “dangerous precedent” and even go beyond powers aimed at combating terrorism. 

Responding to the announcement, Big Brother Watch director Silkie Carlo said: “This new anti-protest Bill is more extreme than many counter-terror laws. 

“The police already have extremely wide powers to deal with many of the offences the government has referred to to falsely justify the draconian Public Order Bill, which effectively introduces pre-crime powers for peaceful protests. 

“These are some of the most disturbing and anti-democratic police measures introduced in the UK for decades and they have no place in a democracy.”

Labour peer Shami Chakrabarti also compared the new laws to counter-terrorism powers. 

“This, I fear, is treating all peaceful dissent as effectively terrorism and this Bill looks very similar to anti-terror legislation we’ve seen in the past,” Baroness Chakrabarti, who is also the former director of human rights group Liberty, told BBC Radio 4. 

“This degree of pre-emption will basically shut down what isn’t even causing disruption at all because their definition will set such a low bar.”

The latest crackdown measure comes on top of proposals to fit protesters with GPS ankle tags if they are deemed to be “disruptive” and banned from attending demonstrations. 

Campaigners say such measures draw parallels with Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures allowing police to impose restrictions like overnight curfews and GPS monitoring on individuals suspected of being involved in terrorism-related activity. 

The Bill builds on the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act, which contains powers allowing cops to shut down protests if they are likely to result in “serious public disorder, serious damage to property or serious disruption to the life of the community.”

The government said broadening the legal definition of “serious disruption” would give police greater “clarity and flexibility” over when to shut down protests. 

The proposals have been backed by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley and the National Police Chiefs Council.