The Lords will not save us from the Police Bill
JVL Introduction
Eliza Egret has written an important, detailed and highly informative piece for The Canary about what has been called a “defeat” of the Police Bill in the House of Lords but it is no such thing. In this article, she clearly outlines why there is little to celebrate from the Lords voting down certain clauses but emphasises that we must build on this minor victory.
Many people will have spotted that there were no attempts to remove the Bill’s threat to the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Community’s whole way of life. Furthermore, the parliamentary system means that many aspects will simply be reinserted by the government.
We have just acknowledged the victory, through direct action, of Palestine Action in helping to close down Elbit Systems and we recall earlier, hard won and long fought direct action campaigns, for example, in support of women’s suffrage, for racial equality and gay rights; for climate justice and against war. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, when enacted, will criminalise the actions that helped achieve these changes. It will mean dramatic constraints on our freedom.
We need to demand more not less democracy; greater not fewer rights. It is essential that we work together to defeat this attack on hard won rights and freedoms and on the vestiges of democracy that we still have. We cannot rely on the Lords but must rely on each other to build the movement for justice.
This article was originally published by The Canary on Wed 19 Jan 2022. Read the original here.
Don’t get too excited about the Police Bill’s defeats in the Lords
“We still have a massive fight ahead of us, and we shouldn’t let this distract us from thinking that much has changed. Instead, let’s use this slightly good news as a starting point to regroup and re-energise the fight against the rest of the bill.”
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“Secure Schools”?
Have they no memory of the poet
Lemn Sissay who was locked up in a secure so called
“assessment unit” for a minor transgression. This was after being in care since birth – foster home plus series of children’s homes where he was abused.
If this takes place – I think we can predict who will end up in these “secure schools” – vulnerable children from poor homes or those from care.
Thanks for an illuminating critique of the Lords debates .
Time to defund the police
Lose our rights that have taken hundreds of years to acquire and all for what, so the establishment can easier control us we are walking into a tyranny.
We are well on the way to being a police state. We have Francoist anti trade union laws; now these laws to ban demonstrations; next voter suppression laws to stop ‘wrong sorts’ voting. Blood on the streets-you haven’t seen nothing yet!!
With the amalgamation of BBC News & Murdoch News International you will find the sanitisation of news & comment almost complete. Much of BBC reporting is now done by ‘Sky News’ journalists.
Shocking….I think we are already in a Tyrannical state. I remember the short sharp shock tactic of the 80’s. Did that work? Then the ASBO’s. They don’t seem to have learnt the lessons that it’s inequality that causes social problems, and that has increased exponentially during the ladt ten years and during Covid. They will ban elections next. Now where have I heard about that before.