London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Jul 22, 2025

Kill the Bill protests: Defend right to protest, Corbyn tells marchers

Kill the Bill protests: Defend right to protest, Corbyn tells marchers

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn urged marchers to "stand up for the right to protest" as protests against the Police and Crime Bill were held around the UK.

Kill the Bill demonstrations took place in London, Birmingham, Liverpool, and Bristol among other places.

Mr Corbyn said the bill would prevent protest without police approval.

Police said 26 people were arrested after a minority refused to leave after the London protest.

Speaking in Parliament Square in central London, Mr Corbyn invoked figures such as the suffragettes and Nelson Mandela as he urged the crowd to oppose the bill.

"Stand up for the right to protest, stand up for the right to have your voice heard," he said.

He said the protests against the bill were sparked after police dispersed the crowd at the "perfectly correct and proper vigil" for Sarah Everard, who was killed as she walked home in south London.

"I want a society where it is safe to walk the streets, where you can speak out, you can demonstrate and you don't have to seek the permission from the police or the home secretary to do so," he said.

More than 1,000 people gathered peacefully in Bristol

Several women addressed the crowd and shared personal experiences of abuse and being drugged.

Protesters carried anti-sexism placards and chanted "women scared everywhere, police and Government do not care" as they marched past Downing Street.

The protests were prompted by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which propose to give police in England and Wales more power to impose conditions on non-violent protests, including those which are deemed too noisy or a nuisance.

Anyone refusing to follow police directions about a protest could be fined up to £2,500.

In London, police scuffled with protestors at the demonstration

Ministers and police have defended the proposals, saying they were needed to tackle demonstrations such the ones by Extinction Rebellion in 2019, where mass occupations of roads and bridges in London and elsewhere stretched police resources to the limit.

Most of the crowd of several hundred people in London dispersed peacefully after the rally, but police said they made arrests after a "small minority" refused to leave.

In Bristol, more than 1,000 people gathered for a peaceful protest, after demonstrations on 23 March and 26 March ended in clashes with police.

Earlier Kill the Bill protests had taken place under lockdown, but the latest demonstrations are the first since coronavirus rules on outdoor gatherings were eased on Monday in the latest stage of the government's roadmap out of lockdown.

Under the current rules, people can meet outdoors in groups of six or two households. But there is an extra provision to allow outdoor protests with more than six people - as long as organisers carry out a risk assessment and take all reasonable steps to limit the spread of the virus.

Hundreds of people also marched through Newcastle city centre, and other places that saw protests of varying scales included Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Bournemouth, Brighton, Weymouth and Luton.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×