Bristol Rallies for “Last Legal Protest”

Billed as the last legal protest, hundreds turned out for Bristol’s 15th Kill The Bill demo and march.  The protest today (Saturday, January 15) saw around 600 Bristolians protest alongside 24 other towns and cities including Bath, Edinburgh, London and Manchester.  The demo began at 1pm on College Green with speeches from representatives of Bristol Youth Strike 4 Climate, Bristol Defendant Solidarity, Bristol Peace Vigil … Continue reading Bristol Rallies for “Last Legal Protest”

General photo of a crowd at a protest. Many people can be seen holding placards.

Upcoming Protests in Bristol, December 2021

The festive period promises to be a restive one for Bristol with a schedule of protests running throughout advent.  No fewer than nine protests and vigils are planned over the coming weeks, with the Colston 4 trial and Police Bill developments taking centre stage.  If you know of a protest taking place that is not listed below, please contact thebristolactivist@protonmail.com. December 8 A vigil will … Continue reading Upcoming Protests in Bristol, December 2021

Riot police advance along Wine Street

Opinion: Bristol Deserves the Truth from its “Leaders.”

On the evening of March 23, as protesters on College Green were being brutalised by police, “City Leaders” were composing a statement condemning the former and praising the latter.  In the statement, released on March 25, 22 self-styled ‘City Leaders’ join to condemn the “violent disorder” of Sunday, March 21, the night of the riot outside Bridewell police station, and go on to confirm their … Continue reading Opinion: Bristol Deserves the Truth from its “Leaders.”

Bristol Cathedral Comments on Police Violence Against Kill The Bill Protesters

Senior figures at Bristol Cathedral have issued a public statement implicitly criticising the policing of a Kill The Bill protest on College Green on March 23 this year. The statement follows a public meeting in June at which Bristol Quaker David Mowat brought representatives of Bristol Cathedral, who own College Green, together with protesters who were there on March 23 to hear the testimonies of … Continue reading Bristol Cathedral Comments on Police Violence Against Kill The Bill Protesters

Kill The Bill on the M32 motorway. A protester stands in front of traffic with a placard reading "This is a Peaceful Protest".

Kill The Bill in Bristol as PCSC Bill Returns to Parliament

Two hundred people marched through Bristol and blocked the M32 as Kill The Bill returned to Bristol with a bang yesterday (July 3).  The protest comes just two days before the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill enters Parliament for a third reading, having been passed through committee stage over the last few weeks.  If passed, the PCSC Bill will have ‘a chilling effect … Continue reading Kill The Bill in Bristol as PCSC Bill Returns to Parliament

Low Turnout Hampers Bank Holiday Kill The Bill March

Having survived police batons and dogs, wind and rain, and hostile media coverage, Bristol’s Kill The Bill movement may have finally met its match in a sunny bank holiday weekend.  At least, this was the feeling at the most recent Kill The Bill demo on Saturday, May 19, where a tiny crowd of 25 people crawled through central Bristol.   ‘There’s other things to do now’, … Continue reading Low Turnout Hampers Bank Holiday Kill The Bill March

Large banner held up at a Kill The Bill demo on College Green. Banner reads: "Kill the Bill - Protest is our human right"

Analysis: Kill The Bill From the Perspective of Those Involved

Chants of Kill the Bill have echoed through Bristol’s streets for seven weeks now as thousands of protesters voice their opposition to the government’s proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill.  But the unity of dissent against the PCSC Bill hides a diversity of motivations, and as the weeks have worn on protesters have had to grapple with the identity of their fledgling movement.  … Continue reading Analysis: Kill The Bill From the Perspective of Those Involved

Riot police advance along Wine Street

Heavy-Handed Policing at May Day Kill The Bill Protest

Saturday’s Kill The Bill protest ended with a show of force from Avon & Somerset Police.  After the main Kill The Bill protest, Bristol’s thirteenth, had ended on College Green at around 21:30, a small group of around 50 protesters marched back through the centre and to a squatted building on High Street.  Here they stood in the road and outside the squatted building, which … Continue reading Heavy-Handed Policing at May Day Kill The Bill Protest

Protester addresses crowd at ninth Kill The Bill protest in Bristol, Saturday April 17th.

Kill the Bill Movement Debates Relationship With Police

A pause on College Green during the Kill The Bill protest on Saturday, April 17th, gave demonstrators the opportunity to discuss their emerging movement’s relationship with the police.  The nine Kill The Bill protests that have now taken place in Bristol have brought together individuals and groups from a diversity of backgrounds in resistance against the government’s proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.  Yesterday’s … Continue reading Kill the Bill Movement Debates Relationship With Police

Meet the Protesters Fighting to Kill the Bill

Kill The Bill. Protesters have carried those words through our city  for three weeks now, showing their opposition to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill. But who is your average Kill The Bill protester?  Mayor Marvin Rees, local MPs, media figures, and other notable Bristol individuals have created a narrative of protesters as ‘politically illiterate’ outsiders, whose unacceptable and shameful behaviour amounts to … Continue reading Meet the Protesters Fighting to Kill the Bill