Photos: Over 100 local people attend the Leamington ‘Kill The Bill’ demonstration

Over 100 local people attended the Leamington ‘Kill The Bill’ demonstration on Saturday May 1.

They were protesting against the Government’s proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

As part of a nationwide wave of protests against the bill, Leamington’s protest was organised by a coalition of Leamington Black Lives Matter, Warwickshire NEU, Socialist Appeal, Keep Our NHS Public, Justice for Palestinians, youth climate strikers, a representative of the GRT community and others.

The protest was socially distanced and many attendees wore masks.

Event co-organiser Emma Mort said: “The police and crime bill is an assault on our right to assembly and protest, aiming to make it as ineffective as possible. It was amazing to see so many organisations represented at the demonstration, united to oppose and defeat this attack on our rights.”

Felix Ling, who helped host the protest, said: “It was inspiring to see so many young people come out to protect their right to protest. We have made our voice heard, the government should listen and back down.

"The bill could mean the police placing start and finish times on protests, and anyone who does not stick to these conditions could be fined £2,500.

"This bill is a blatant attack on our human rights, put in place to silence movements like BLM and Extinction Rebellion. Protests are so important because they unify people and that scares the people in power. These streets are our streets and these rights are our rights.

"We will continue to oppose this bill and look to hold similar protests in future until the proposed legislation is defeated."

A government spokesman said that 'peaceful protest is fundamental to our society', adding that parts of the bill were in response to 'increasingly disruptive tactics' seen in recent years.

The government said the legislation would allow police to "impose conditions such as start and finish times and maximum noise levels on static protests" of whatever size.