Shrewsbury protest planned against new crime Bill
A "footwear"protest against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is due to take place in Shrewsbury this weekend.
The demonstration is planned at the Quarry at 9am on Saturday, where activists will leave a pair of shoes along with a sign describing the effects the Bill will have on their freedoms.
Concerns over the Bill were first raised last spring. It would give police in England and Wales more power to impose conditions on non-violent protests, including those deemed too noisy or a nuisance, with those convicted liable to fines or jail terms.
A spokesman for the protestors said: “In recent years we have seen development of a few strong protest movements.
"While a protest should be a signal for the government to take actions on the issues raised, the Bill is a reactionary piece of legislation seeking to make voicing concerns too difficult for the majority of population, not to mention that it authorises potential mistreatment of certain sections of the society.
"This piece of legislation also drastically increases powers of the Secretary of State - such as to decide the legitimacy of protests or to request personal data - which makes these decisions particularly subjective.”
