By Tom Charlesworth
At 1pm, on April 17th, as the sun shone above, protesters began to gather around Wellington Arch in London, in demonstration against a new policing bill recently proposed in Parliament.
A small congregation soon turned to hundreds as speakers rallied the crowd. Police officers stood and watched from afar.
The scene was jovial. Protesters sat on the grass, hugging and smiling. However, the matter of the protest is far from jovial, as one protester pointed out.
‘Government’s in the West don’t act like those in the East,’ the protester, who wished to remain anonymous, commented. ‘If this sort of Bill was proposed in somewhere like China, there’d be huge uproar here about the oppressive nature of their government. But here, they’re stripping our rights away, one by one, until we’re left with nothing.’
After the few speeches concluded, Samba drums led a march through the capital, passing many points of interest, before settling outside Parliament. Some of these locations included Piccadilly Circus, a scene that’s witnessed many LGBT+ demonstrations in the past, and Trafalgar Square, home to the famous Nelson’s Column and stage of the Poll Tax Riots in 1990.
This march was one of many occurring across the UK that day and follows weeks of protests throughout the country. From Brighton to Glasgow; Norwich to Aberystwyth, thousands of people have taken to the streets to make their voices heard.
In previous weeks, similar protests have turned violent in cities like Bristol, Brighton and London. One police officer watching over the London protest on Saturday commented that they were simply there to ‘ensure the safety of everyone involved.’
The majority of demonstrations, however, have remained peaceful. Despite that, riot police were standing ready as the group passed through the city but weren’t necessary as the protest took place without problem.
What are the protests about?
Just a month before, on March 16th, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill passed its second hearing in the House of Commons. Protesters believe that the 307-page legislation could restrict the right to protest.
The section about protests, I.E. chapter 3, was introduced by the government after the National Police Chief’s council implored the Home Secretary to do something about the disruptive Extinction Rebellion demonstrations of 2019, and the Black Lives Matter action in 2020.
If the bill becomes law, police will gain the power to restrict static protests in a similar way to how they can marches currently.
Some of the new powers would include:
Imposing start and end times
Restricting noise limits
Fining protesters up to £2,500 for not complying
Marvina Newton, a big face of the Kill the Bill protests, commented that the ‘history of protests have given us everything we have.’ She went on to give examples of ‘Kiss-Ins’ in London when it was illegal to be gay, and the Stonewall movement over in America, which largely contributed to allowing LGBT+ people the right to equal love.
It’s evident that people are worried about their right to protest coming under threat. In a speech made outside Parliament, one activist implored protesters to help ‘Push back these draconian laws,’ saying, ‘It’s time to hand power back to the people.’
Another added that, ‘If you don’t want us to talk no more, you need to make a more equitable society.’
The government have since responded to this criticism by stating that ‘Freedom of expression is a cornerstone of British democracy,’ and suggested that the majority of protests would not be affected by this bill.
However, there seems to be a much deeper wound already present, contributing to the worries of those protesting. Many of the speakers opened up about their experiences of racism and sexism in the country, as cries of ‘black lives matter’ echoed amongst the drums as the protesters marched.
After a year of Black Lives Matter marches, and the recent killing of Sarah Everard, people are concerned about a government handing more powers to the police.
What have MPs said?
The proposed bill hasn’t come without opposition in parliament. When last voted on in the House of Commons, over 260 MPs voted against the second hearing, including members from Labour, the Scottish National Party and the Green Party. All 359 ‘ayes’ came from Conservative MPs.
Green Party MP, Caroline Lucas, accused the Prime Minister of attempting to strip the UK citizen of the right to peacefully protest.
In a London protest on Easter Saturday, two weeks before, ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn branded the move as a ‘very dangerous and very slippery slope,’ and added that, ‘When we’ve won the right to protest, it’s important that we defend it.’
Just a couple of hours earlier, another Labour MP, Bell Ribiero-Addy, also expressed concern over the bill by saying, ‘If you attempt to suppress the right to protest, you’re just going to get more protests.’
Conservative politicians have defended the bill and taken to social media to condemn protests that turned hostile. Boris Johnson branded the violence in Bristol at the end of March simply as ‘disgraceful.’
With the 80-seat majority, and little resistance from the Tory benches, it would seem as though the bill has a free pass through to the House of Lords, where it will have to face multiple stages before being proposed to the Queen.
What else is in the bill?
Many protesters are mainly concerned about the third part of the bill, which surrounds Public Order. However, there’s much more to the proposed legislation.
From doubling the sentence for those who assault emergency workers from one to two years, to handing the police more power to manage the risk of ‘terrorist offenders,’ this bill promises to create a lot of change surrounding the policing and courts system.
The changes being made to protests only make up seven out of the 176 sections of the bill. Despite that, protesters are calling for the whole bill to be scrapped.
A protester who, again, did not want to be named said, ‘Reforming this bill is not enough. It’s deeply rooted in racism. It must go.’
What’s planned for the future?
The Bill is currently only at the third stage of the process. In March, it passed its second hearing stage, and it is now at the committee stage. There are nine more steps for the Bill to pass through before it becomes law, include being okayed through the House of Lords and further, gaining Royal Assent.
Despite this only being early in the approval process, protesters say they will not back down until this bill is 'killed.’
With over a month since these protests began, it’s clear that the issue isn’t simply going away. Many protests are planned for the future as the bill continues through the motions of becoming legislation.
The next ‘day of action' is planned for May 1st.
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