Sadly, it's Mullvad VPN itself which may be banned in the UK. VPNs will require identify verification. Not a problem for companies which require credit cards for payment, but Mullvad famously allows anonymous cash payments through the post.
Mass surveillance and living in a police state is an ingrained part of British culture.
It is no wonder to me that police procedurals are the most popular genre of TV shows in UK by quite a margin. They really are high-quality, but it does really feel like thinly-veiled propaganda (often commissioned by the BBC) portraying the State and police as the good guys in their endless quest against the baddies. Thank god there are CCTVs at every corner keeping the peace!
I didn't use the word "totalitarian", which the UK still isn't for the time being. A surveillance state doesn't necessary have to be totalitarian (the CCTVs were in good conscience put there to protect us from the baddies). But it certainly is a precondition to become that over time.
Not GP but I was born in the UK, and from 'CCTV on every corner' even as an exaggeration I'd question if you stepped outside London in those 15 years, not counting 'London' airports.
I live in central London and there are protests pretty much daily about all sorts of things. The problem is more no one paying attention to them rather than their being illegal.
I don't support that organisation, but I support the right not to be banned from walking in protest, in a pre policing move.
You can bet the static protest people will be kettled too as a defensive measure. I don't support frightening makeshift imprisonment in the street.
I don't support the requirement to get permission from the police to walk in protest either
Tell me: how much change you think you can effect with a few people stood static, self policing your words as not to cause offence to anyone, and then likely kettled by the police? Tell me that isn't banning protest
You're basically permitted to stand silent with a totally inoffensive sign (offensive or potentially to absolutely nobody) in a very small group that attracts no attention
Honestly both Labour and Conservatives are bound to take a beating next elections. I have no idea how will Greens and/or Reform government look like, we shall see.
