Kill the Bill protests hit the street around the country again, Yonas Makoni and Jan Culley report from protests in London and Ceredigion

Protesters gathered in London on Saturday for the latest demonstration against the Policing, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. The Bill, which has provoked anger among activists, threatens to severely restrict the right to protest, by banning demonstrations deemed disruptive, excessively noisy and ‘annoying’.

When the Bill was first announced in late March, the movement against violence against women and police brutality that had erupted around the murder of Sarah Everard quickly rallied in opposition to it and forced Parliament to delay the committee stage till the end of June. The protests have continued since then in an attempt to get the Bill withdrawn for good.

Protesters gathered at Russell Sq at 12pm, before marching off around 12.30. The march stopped off at the British Museum, the Royal Court of Justice, Ministry of Defence and New Scotland Yard before finishing at Parliament Square. At each stop, the speakers lambasted the respective institutions’ role in perpetuating imperialism and racism and there was lots of solidarity with Palestine throughout.

While smaller than previous Kill the Bill demos, the protest grew significantly as we marched towards Westminster. Jeremy Corbyn spoke at Parliament Square and reiterated the need for mass protests to shift public opinion against the Bill.

That is indeed what we need to focus on now. The next stage in this battle will be the People’s Assembly’s national demonstration on 26 June and we now need to focus on making it as big as possible.

Ceredigion Kill the Bill stands with Palestine and Columbia

Crowds gathered in Aberystwyth again today to protest against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, this time showing solidarity with Palestinians and Columbians. 

The crowds led by Palestinian activists chanted through the streets drawing the attention of the masses of tourists now arriving in Wales.

Columbian and Palestinian speakers presented the horrors of day to day life in Palestine, called for support for BDS, described the conditions of refugees in cramped camps walled in wth barbed wire, the horrors of illegal occupation and violence, repression and assassination in Colombia.

Unite the Union stressed the right of people to protest and fight against oppression and emphasised the importance of participating in unified protest and the Kill the Bill campaign. Solidarity with Colombian trade unions whose numbers are attacked and murdered was called for.

Clear statements were made on the need to fight oppression and poverty in unity with a reminder that 31% of children live in poverty in Wales. The message could not have been clearer: the struggle is international and protest must be unified.