Today, through the Queen's Speech, the new government has annouced a series of Bills it plans to push through parliament in the coming weeks and months. Among them is the Freedom Bill, which will "scale back" the government's place in people's lives.

As part of the Freedom Bill, designed to bring back the freedom and civil liberties lost in the past decade, the government intends to reform the unpopular anti-terrorism laws that have constantly been used against photographers.

The Bill intends to strike a balance between protecting the public and ensuring civil liberties are preserved. Over the past few years, and particularly in the last 18 months, Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 has been used to prevent photographers from working in public places. The government says that the Freedom Bill will introduce "safeguards against the misuse of anti-terrorism legislation."

The controversial stop-and-search powers have even been found to be illegal by the European Court of Human Rights, who said that the powers lack proper 'safeguards against abuse.' Despite the court's ruling, both the Home Office and the Association of Chief Police Officers reaffirmed their support for the controversial powers.

Acting under Labour governance, in April, the Home Office appealed the European Court's ruling. However, that appeal could be dropped as the new government will most likely amend the Terrorism Act 2000, the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 and Terrorism Act 2006 as well as the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008.