The Tories’ Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill has been in the public eye for weeks. Also known as the policing bill, it has caused protests up and down the UK. And now, a coalition of groups have come together and released a statement to try to #KillTheBill once and for all. And The Canary is proud to be a signatory.
A coalition to #KillTheBill
The Kill the Bill Coalition is made up of dozens of organisations who’ve come together to collectively oppose the bill. On Wednesday 31 March, the group released a statement.
It says that the bill:
is a dangerous and unnecessary piece of legislation that endangers the rights and safety of every single one of us… We stand united and reject attempts to divide our movement into “good” and “bad” protestors.
We must be clear: there is no version of this Bill that is tolerable.
The statement calls on more groups to join the coalition to #KillTheBill.
Dangerous times
It also outlines why the bill is so dangerous. The statement says it:
- “Intensifies police brutality against Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, and criminalises their way of life”.
- “gives the police the power to criminalise protests for being “noisy”, disruptive or “annoying””.
- “Uses ‘protecting’ women as a cover to expand police powers and increase custodial sentences”.
- “Expands stop and search powers, which… [police] already regularly used to harass and terrorise young black people”.
- “Will silence the calls for justice by families of those whose loved ones have died at the hands of the police”.
- “Makes those at the sharpest edge of state violence even more unsafe – including migrants, sex workers, disabled people, and racialised communities”.
Strength in diversity
A diverse range of groups have joined the coalition. These include Black Lives Matter UK, Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), Jewdas, Travellers Against Fascism, United Voices of the World Union (UVW), and Sisters Uncut. The Canary has also signed up to the coalition to #KillTheBill:
Some of the groups have already tweeted about it:
It is only through a united mass movement that we will be able to #KillTheBill.
We will not leave anyone behind: we must kill this bill, and we must do it together.
Sign the statement here: https://t.co/aICfMJLKjf pic.twitter.com/KWipekEHKu
— Sisters Uncut (@SistersUncut) March 31, 2021
#KillTheBill statement.
To add your organisation's name go to https://t.co/L4YeMyT4gq
Since the video below was produced the CWU Union has signed! pic.twitter.com/QBKQcSFf2b— Left Unity (@LeftUnityUK) March 31, 2021
We must kill the bill
The statement concludes by saying:
The government’s current majority means that the Bill may pass through the halls of Parliament. That does not mean it will pass through the streets.
Just as many before us – in history as recent as the anti Poll Tax movement – we know that victories are won in the streets, in our communities and workplaces. People power has already got this bill delayed. It can also stop it being enforced.
It’s telling that such a broad range of groups have come together to fight back. The coalition shows the strength of feeling across society against the bill. Now, we all must continue opposing the bill. Moreover, as the coalition says, we must do this using “all the tools at our disposal”. So, we must unite and kill the bill, once and for all.
Read the coalition’s full statement:
Featured image via the Kill the Bill Coalition and the Telegraph – YouTube
By Steve Topple
This post was originally published on The Canary.
