United Kingdom: protest against security bill does not weaken
A protester wears a face mask and a slogan painted on her face during a "Kill the Bill", "Kill the Law" protest in London on Saturday April 3, 2021. AP - Alberto Pezzali
Text by: RFI Follow
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After several protests that have escalated in Bristol in recent days, parades were again held in several cities across the UK on Saturday against a new bill to strengthen police powers.
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With our correspondent in London,
Claire Digiacomi
In the streets of Manchester, Leeds, Brighton or London, always the same signs, with this slogan: "
Kill the bill
", "Kill the law".
The law, presented to parliament last month, is expected to give police more powers to oversee protests.
With this text, agents could, for example, set their own times for the start or end of the procession, or even limit the noise level.
And this even for a demonstration led by one person.
Fines of up to 2,500 pounds, or nearly 3,000 euros, are planned.
But also a 10-year prison sentence for the degradation of a monument as when demonstrators had debunked, last year, the statue of a
slave trader in Bristol
.
These measures arouse the anger of organizations like Black Lives Matter, against racism, or Extinction Rebellion, an environmental movement.
The activists denounce an attack on freedom of expression and an authoritarian drift.
They are supported by political figures like former opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Several hundred people marched alongside them on Saturday in some 40 cities across the country.
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