The Police Bill: Extinction Rebellion Edinburgh turn out in protest again the new Police Bill before it appears before the House of Lords

Extinction Rebellion turned out to protest in the Capital on Saturday as the new Police Bill set to face the House of Lords.

Activists, dressed in black, walked from Holyrood to the UK Government offices in Edinburgh to make a stand against the controversial Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Bill.

The bill is due to appear before the House of Lords on Monday, and if passed, will affect – among other things – protesting rights across England and Wales and the activists believe that it will also be pushed into Scotland.

One protester, Justin Kenrick, said, “The Police Bill is an attempt to silence the cry of women against gender violence, the cry of Black Lives Matter against racialized violence, the cry of climate activists peacefully fighting for our future.

The Police Bill: Extinction Rebellion Edinburgh turn out in protest again the new Police Bill before it appears before the House of Lords

"It will criminalise protest and also be used against Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities,”

Fellow protester, Mike Grant, 62, a retired lawyer and army officer, added, "We risk becoming a police state.

"This Bill is designed to have a chilling effect on protest, to frighten people into never stepping onto the streets in the first place.

"Given how important protest has been to securing fundamental freedoms such as votes for women, workers' rights and equality laws, this must not and cannot be allowed to happen.

"Many of my former colleagues in the police have said that they already have sufficient powers to manage protest and that, given all that is currently happening, these measures will erode the public's faith in the forces of law and order even further."

A message from the Editor:Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.