Unity against the Police Bill – a powerful message from the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Community

JVL Introduction

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is wending its way through Parliament.  It could make all forms of effective protest illegal and punishable by heavy fines and long prison sentences.

Much like the Nationality and Borders Bill, it aims to address a large number of issues and the government tries to add substantial clauses at late stages of the process.

Despite a modest, but important success, with some clauses being rejected by the House of Lords, the Bill remains a serious threat to our right to protest.

And, importantly, it encompasses a major threat to the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community as Roma journalist Jake Bowers explains in this video and article.

Everyone needs to stand together to fight all aspects of this pernicious bill.  The historic parallels for Jewish people are also clear as the author has made clear elsewhere, not least when he spoke to JVL’s AntiRacism Alliance Network.

This article was originally published by The Canary on Tue 18 Jan 2022. Read the original here.