3,000 AT KILL THE BILL COP CLASH
Arrests in London during nationwide protests against new anti-demo law
POLICE using pepper spray clashed with demonstrators in London yesterday as Kill the Bill protests reared up again in 25 cities.
Ten officers were injured in London as over 3,000 people marched to Parliament Square. A banner saying “Kill Cops” could be seen in the crowd – just 50 metres away from where PC Keith Palmer was stabbed to death by a terrorist in 2017.
Some chanted “All cops are b ******* ” and “scum” during the demo.
The Met said 26 people were arrested and a “small minority” broke Covid rules.
The marches were against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which critics fear will limit the right to protest.
In Bristol more than 2,000 people marched, chanting
“whose streets, our streets”. But there was no repeat of the city’s March 21 chaos when a police station was bombarded and vehicles were set on fire.
In Norwich, where around 300 protesters gathered, Kill The Bill graffiti was daubed on a war memorial. Addressing the London crowd ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, said: “The right to protest is precious. Protest movements make history,
from the eight-hour working day to the vote for women, rights we take for granted had to be won through protest.
“We took them – they weren’t handed to us by the rich and powerful.” In Newcastle, several hundred objectors chanted, and more than 400 people marched through Manchester city centre. Protests also took place in Birmingham, Cardiff, Liverpool and Nottingham.
The disputed bill would give police in England and Wales more power to put conditions on non-violent protests, with fines or jail for any demonstrators who defy the rules. Labour MP Bell RibeiroAddy told the London demo the bill was “part of an authoritarian drive” by the Tories.
■ Ryan Roberts, 25, of Easton, Bristol was remanded in custody on Friday accused of trying to set fire to a police van during the city’s March 21 protest.
The right to protest is precious ...it makes history JEREMY CORBYN IN LONDON YESTERDAY