THE organiser of a protest in Wrexham says the right for people to be able to make their voices heard is an important right that should not be taken away.

Campaigner Bobbi Cockcroft said the protest in Wrexham on Saturday showed that people could make their feelings known peacefully.

People, some with signs, gathered outside Wrexham MP Sarah Atherton's office to protest against the new police bill.

Bobbi said: "Everybody stayed safe, everyone social distanced, there were no threatening messages on the placards people brought, so I was really pleased. It was done in a polite and respectful manner, and I am really happy about that."

She said that people's right to protest was hard won and should be protected.

Bobbi added: "You only have to look back in history to the Paris Commune, the Suffragette Movement, the Miners' Strike, to see how the power of people coming together can influence monumental societal changes that benefit everybody.

"Passing bills like this only benefit a few, those at the top of the tree. Being able to protest and to voice our rights, and our thoughts and feelings, is how we can campaign for change. If you're working class or any kind of minority or diverse group in society then the only power you have a lot of the time is coming together as a body of people.

"It's important to be able to come together in that we and to maintain our rights to do that. Without that, what have we got?"

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill would make it illegal to inflict “serious annoyance” on a person without reasonable excuse, with up to 10 years’ jail for those found guilty.

Officers could also be given more powers to impose conditions on static protests, such as time and noise limits, as well as extending those rules to one-person demonstrations.

The Bill has passed its second reading in the Commons by 359 votes to 263. Tory MPs voted in favour and all other parties voted against, except the DUP who abstained.

Critics of the proposed law say it takes away people's basic democratic right to protest.

Bobbi said: "Protest is always a reactionary measure. Historically people only protest when they feel they have been backed into a corner - when they feel like they have had certain rights taken away or that they have had certain decisions imposed on them. They haven't got the power themselves to change that so the only way the way we can do that as a society is by coming together.

"It is our human right to have our opinions heard, voiced, and represented fairly."