Coalition Leads Mass “Kill the Bill” Demonstrations Across the UK for Mayday
Friday, April 30, 2021
- Mass ‘Kill the Bill’ demonstrations across the UK on Saturday 1 May.
- A coalition of thousands are protesting the controversial police powers Bill, which will give police unprecedented powers
- Sisters Uncut say “police are drunk on power and should not be given more”
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @sistersuncut
Tens of thousands are set to attend 40 different ‘Kill the Bill’ rallies in cities across the UK on Saturday 1 May. The demonstrations are in protest against the government’s police powers Bill.
Events will kick off at 12:30 in Trafalgar Square, London, with simultaneous demonstrations planned across 40 different locations in the UK, including Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, Cambridge, Sheffield and Edinburgh. This map displays the full list of protests this weekend. Online protests are also being conducted by Disabled People Against Cuts and IWGB.
This is the latest progression in the ‘Kill the Bill’ movement – a coalition of over 40 activist groups who have joined forces and taken to the streets since March to reject the controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which is due to resume its path through parliament in May. The groups are committed to disrupting the Bill’s progress through parliament at every stage and have lifted up the Bill’s attack on racialised communities, the right to protest, and on civil liberties.
Groups in the Kill the Bill coalition include Sisters Uncut, Black Lives Matter UK, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Socialists, Disabled People Against Cuts and Women’s Strike Assembly.
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is a 300-page piece of proposed law that seeks to increase police powers in terrifying ways. It will drastically impact the lives of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, give police expanded Stop and Search powers and criminalise the right to protest. Lawyers argue that this proposed legislation violates international law.
Quotes
Dani Cane, a youth worker who plans to attend the protest on Saturday said:
“The police have repeatedly proven that they are drunk on power, and will always use violence against us, not just against the most vulnerable people they routinely target, but anyone who they deem to be not behaving in a way they approve of. It is vital that we prevent this bill from being passed in order to keep ourselves safe and resist the authoritarian abuse of state power. We must be able to hold the police accountable for the violence they relentlessly cause.”
An anonymous member of Sisters Uncut said:
“The police powers bill should be scrapped entirely. It is authoritarian in tone and in nature, and will lead to more abuse of police powers. It will take a mass movement to force it to be thrown out of parliament.
If this police powers bill becomes law, we will see even more police violence – against people who speak up against injustice, and specifically against Black, Muslim and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.”
Jess Sharp, a domestic violence worker who plans to attend the protest on Saturday said:
“It has felt like every single day since Sarah Everard was murdered, more stories of horrific police violence have come out. The police are bullies and perpetuate endless violence, giving them more power puts us at more risk and so we cannot allow this bill to pass”.