'Kill the Bill' and 'Rebellion of One' protests held in Cornwall during nationwide day of action
Campaigners took to the streets of Truro over the new policing bill and in Newquay over climate change
'Kill the Bill' and 'Rebellion of One' protest have been held in Cornwall during a nationwide day of action.
Campaigners took to the streets of Truro on Saturday 1st May, angry over the Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill, claiming it threatens their right to protest.
Posting on social media ahead of the event, organisers Kill the Bill Cornwall described it as "draconian".
"Our freedom was built on a history of Protest. We protest so future generations don't have to.
"The policing bill is the biggest attack on the right to protest that we've seen in a generation. If passed, the police will be able to impose conditions on protests they see as too noisy. Meanwhile, if your protest causes serious annoyance, then you could face ten years in jail for taking to the streets. This bill threatens our vital rights to protest".
They added: "We are the opposition to this bill. The streets are where we won our rights - and it's on the streets that we'll fight to defeat this bill".
Kill the Bill Cornwall
In Newquay, one woman blocked traffic as part of Extinction Rebellion's 'Rebellion of One' action.
24-year-old part-time barmaid and dressmaker, Abigail Hubbucks, sat in the road calling for action over climate change.
In a statement ahead of the event, Abbey said: “As a teenager I was surrounded by people who wanted to be rocket scientists or rock stars and I aspired to those things too, but mostly I wanted to be a mother. Specifically mother to a whole football team including the subs! I wanted a gaggle of happy children. Then I found out just how urgent the climate crisis really is.
"In 2018 the IPCC reported that we were just 12 years away from climate tipping points that would plunge the planet into irreversible climate chaos. I was 22 years old then. If I’d had a child they would be in Year 7 by the time we reached those tipping points. Now we are just 0.3 degrees away from an irreversible climate and ecological crisis. How can I bring a child into such a world?
"This government is ignoring the science. It has sunk £27Bn into new roads, it is destroying ancient woodlands to make way for a high-speed rail line and has bulldozed ahead plans for a new runway at Heathrow.
"This government has been told by the IPCC and the Environment Agency that we are heading for, and in some cases already hitting worst case scenarios. My children would have to live through ecosystem collapse, floods, food shortages and the collapse of society as we know it. I will be spending my May Day blocking traffic in the road because I am grieving for the children I will never conceive".
Abigail Hubbucks
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