Independent Media | Campaigning Journalism
A massive coalition has formed to #KillTheBill
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:
Read on...
- “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
We need your help to keep speaking the truth
Every story that you have come to us with; each injustice you have asked us to investigate; every campaign we have fought; each of your unheard voices we amplified; we do this for you. We are making a difference on your behalf.
Our fight is your fight. You’ve supported our collective struggle every time you gave us a like; and every time you shared our work across social media. Now we need you to support us with a monthly donation.
We have published nearly 2,000 articles and over 50 films in 2021. And we want to do this and more in 2022 but we don’t have enough money to go on at this pace. So, if you value our work and want us to continue then please join us and be part of The Canary family.
In return, you get:
* Advert free reading experience
* Quarterly group video call with the Editor-in-Chief
* Behind the scenes monthly e-newsletter
* 20% discount in our shop
Almost all of our spending goes to the people who make The Canary’s content. So your contribution directly supports our writers and enables us to continue to do what we do: speaking truth, powered by you. We have weathered many attempts to shut us down and silence our vital opposition to an increasingly fascist government and right-wing mainstream media.
With your help we can continue:
* Holding political and state power to account
* Advocating for the people the system marginalises
* Being a media outlet that upholds the highest standards
* Campaigning on the issues others won’t
* Putting your lives central to everything we do
We are a drop of truth in an ocean of deceit. But we can’t do this without your support. So please, can you help us continue the fight?
Support us -
Show Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to leave a comment.Join the conversationPlease read our comment moderation policy here.
Patel conveniently forgets that if not for the targeted actions of the Suffragettes she might not even have the vote let alone been able to enter politics, and if not for refugee rights groups her parents might not have been able to settle in this country.
Like Thatcher, she made it after climbing on the shoulders of giants, so f*** everyone else.
I’m thinking the bill will pass as loyality rules the Tories. Patel really has the make up of a gangster from a 30’s movie. Home Secretary too, which says all about what ‘s coming down the tube.
She appeals to the class of whose who rule temporarily, and I’m sure she will be rewared for sacrifices with money, social priviledges, and maybe a Peer.
Its something in this day and age for what is in your mind rules however wrong.
I had a friend who swore his lemons only diet was a wonderful cure. He ended losing his kidney over it as his prostate gland began shutting his body down.
Even his father was a doctor on a WW11 cruiser.
Belief is stroinger than the truth or your physical ability to look after yourself by listening Don’t listen to yourself or be true to your yourself, just obey the Boss. Its so common place to out of touch in the aslyum where black is ceertainly really blue and your up for a strenous debate about it..
The reality all comes out in this Brexit Pudding which is becoming a financial disaster for the little people which means those with humilty.
I’d gladly support this movement against the bill, but it doesn’t apply in Scotland.
Yet.
How can we lend our support? I doubt our opinions will carry any weight with the present anti-Scottish Westminster administration?