UK seeks stronger powers to stop disruptive protestsLONDON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government will on Monday announce new proposals to clamp down on protests, broadening the range of situations in which police in England and Wales are able to act to prevent serious disruption.In recent years, protests, usually on environmental issues, have shut down large parts of central London and blocked traffic on key highways, leading to calls for the police to have more power to stop the disturbance.The government passed legislation to address this in 2022, but is planning to go further with a new set of laws known as the Public Order Bill."The police already have adequate powers to arrest people and move them on," Shami Chakrabarti, an opposition Labour member of the upper house of parliament which will consider the government amendments, told BBC radio.The bill already includes the creation of a criminal offence for those who seek to lock themselves to objects or buildings, and allows courts to restrict the freedoms of some protesters to prevent them causing serious disruption."