Hundreds of Britons demonstrated outside the parliament building and the main police building for the third night in a row out of anger at the murder of 33-year-old woman Sarah Everard and government plans to curtail the right of demonstration.
A London police officer, 48-year-old Wayne Couzens, has been charged with kidnapping and killing Everard and appeared a second time in court on Tuesday. The police are also under fire from all political directions for the crackdown at a vigil for Everard. According to police chief Cressida Dick, the distance rules were not respected.
London mayor of the Labor house Sadiq Khan has said he has “expressed dissatisfaction” with Dick over Saturday’s police crackdown. Four women were then arrested for disturbing public order and breaking corona rules. Conservative Interior Minister Priti Patel was also critical of the police. She called the images of the police intervention “disturbing”.
Since the storm of criticism, the police have been less harsh on protests outside Parliament and police headquarters at New Scotland Yard. At Parliament, more than 600 demonstrators called for the dismissal of Chief of Staff Dick and Minister Patel. The slogan ‘all cops are bastards’ was shouted at the second location.
While demonstrations took place outside Parliament on Tuesday, MPs inside partially approved a new criminal law from Minister Patel. This should make it easier for the police to ban demonstrations that could lead to significant peace disturbances.
Since the murder of Everard, there has been a lot of discussion in the UK about the insecurity that many British women experience in the evenings and at night when they walk the streets alone. Several protesters emphasized on Tuesday that they believe that this discussion should not be snowed under because of the fuss surrounding the police’s actions.
The UK government has proposed using more plainclothes agents at bars and nightclubs to ensure that women are not harassed. That proposal was received with mixed feelings by protesters. “People will no longer feel comfortable with plainclothes officers,” said an 18-year-old student. “More importantly, everyone knows what to do to make women feel safer.”
English