Darling of the snarling mob: Comrade Corbyn
JEREMY CORBYN addressed thousands of Kill the Bill activists at a rally which ended in violence yesterday.
At least one officer was injured during cl ashes i n Parli ament Square as police used pepper spray against protesters who hurled beer cans and other projectiles.
Earlier a banner bearing the words ‘Kill Cops’ was unfurled just 50 metres from where PC Keith Palmer was stabbed to death in 2017.
In the evening, trouble also flared in Trafalgar Square where some campaigners let off a smoke bomb while another threw a bottle of water at an officer.
The heated scenes in the capital came amid otherwise peaceful demonstrations across the country over proposed crime legislation, which opponents fear will limit their right to protest.
Former Labour leader Mr Corbyn described the Police and Crime Bill as a ‘ very dangerous, slippery slope’ and defended the right to protest.
The changes would give police more power to impose conditions on non-violent protests.
To cheers and applause, Mr Corbyn said: ‘If we don’t protest, things don’t change.’ Nearby, anti-lockdown demonstrators staged their own protest, supported by Mr Corbyn’s brother, Piers.
Dozens of extra officers were drafted in to help unblock the road near Parliament for a McDonald’s lorry whose driver became a target for the crowd.
The ‘national weekend of action’ spread beyond the capital to cities including Newcastle, Liverpool, Brighton, Bristol and Manchester.
In Norwich, Kill The Bill graffiti was daubed on a city centre war memorial. In London protesters threatened police with sticks and shouted, ‘Shame on you’ when officers moved in to make arrests.
Mr Corbyn said: ‘The right to protest is precious. Protest movements make history, from the eight-hour working day to the vote for women to the right for equal pay, the 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.’
Many protesters carried anti-sexism placards and chanted, ‘Women scared everywhere, police and Government do not care’.
In Bristol, more than 1,000 people attended the city’s fifth Kill the Bill protest in less than a fortnight. Thousands attended the first protest on March 21, which ended with a riot and several officers injured.
The old relic who just can’t resist a spot of bother...