[MSN/Daily Mail] Protests of more than two people will be banned during the month-long lockdown set to start on Thursday, according to Whitehall sources.
Ministers have said the rules need to be clear and Home Secretary Priti Patel is said to have briefed chief constables over the weekend to tell officers to enforce the rules.
However, it is believed that some senior officers are worried that the move is too oppressive for a liberal society.
And one barrister is concerned the move could breach human rights.
A Whitehall source told The Times that even though protests won't explicitly be prohibited, the previous exemption - which allowed demonstrations of more than two people - would be removed.
The new edict has allegedly been enforced to make it easier for police to enforce the rules.
Some UK citizens reportedly complained during the country's first lockdown that they weren't allowed to see their families while thousands of others were allowed to demonstrate together.
Priti Patel read the riot act to Bristol police chief, Andy Marsh, whose officers failed to stop Black Lives Matter protesters ripping down a slave trader's statue in June....