Should street preaching and praying be banned in the UK?
Street preaching remains legal in the UK under the Human Rights Act but is regulated by the Public Order Act 1986, which prohibits threatening, abusive or insulting words likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress. Recent cases include a Colchester church appealing a council ban on amplified 'intimidating' preaching, a Soho preacher acquitted for distributing tracts on Sodom and Gomorrah, and ongoing debates around conversion practices legislation that could affect public prayer. Public prayer is generally permitted except in abortion clinic buffer zones where even silent prayer can lead to arrest.
2 Opinions
If someone is causing a nuisance or intimidating people with a megaphone, police already have public order laws to stop them. The moment you let the state ban peaceful speech on high streets, you destroy centuries of British liberties...
Preaching and openly praying should be kept to places of worship or people's homes. Hearing people preaching and praying is always going to offend someone.