The UK has been restricting the right to protest since Johnson took power, probably out of a believe that if people aren't protesting they can't do anything. And to an extent, that is true.
It does increase the threshold for the population to meaningfully oppose the government. But it also risks something else.
Because, after all, 'he who makes peaceful protest impossible, makes violent revolution inevitable'. And sure, most such rebellions are squashed by the military, that's one of the reasons China doesn't like to talk about Tiananmen square. When the military doesn't squash a rebellion, it's because either the military doesn't want to get caught up in things, or they are right there among the front ranks. At that point, all the current government can do is pray they did not piss off the population to the point of murder.
There's a violent revolution. It's probably going to end up in murders.
It does increase the threshold for the population to meaningfully oppose the government. But it also risks something else.
Because, after all, 'he who makes peaceful protest impossible, makes violent revolution inevitable'. And sure, most such rebellions are squashed by the military, that's one of the reasons China doesn't like to talk about Tiananmen square. When the military doesn't squash a rebellion, it's because either the military doesn't want to get caught up in things, or they are right there among the front ranks. At that point, all the current government can do is pray they did not piss off the population to the point of murder.
There's a violent revolution. It's probably going to end up in murders.