“WE MUST defend the right to protest, and picket, and make a racket when we feel we are not being listened to.”

That’s what Slough’s MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi in the House of Commons as he spoke out against the controversial protest bill.

The Police, Crime Sentencing and Courts Bill will grant police new powers to crackdown on protests over noise levels.

This includes non-violent protests that are judged to be too noisy and can cause “intimidation or harassment” or “serious unease, alarm or distress” to the public.

Speaking in Parliament earlier this week, Mr Dhesi called the bill “ill-thought through” and is “one of the most egregious attempts to stifle our fundamental rights”.

The Labour parliamentarian also said protests are a “part of who we are” and have been the “engine of reform” throughout British history. From the Peasants Poll Tax protest of 1371 to the worldwide Black Lives Matter movement.

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Mr Dhesi said: “Members opposite [Conservatives] will complain that the bill does not remove the freedom to protest.

“Well, not in so many words, but the right to protest must include the right to be noisy; a quiet protest, a supine protest, a protest denied because the shouting was too loud is not a protest at all.

“The point of protest is to give a collective voice to those who feel they have not been listened to. For marginalised and oppressed communities who have been told too many times to keep quiet.”

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The bill has sparked a series of concerns from campaigners who feel it will impeach their “basic rights” and have called on MPs to ditch the “deeply authoritarian” reform.

The Home Office said: “Freedom to protest is a fundamental right but current laws to manage highly disruptive protests are out of date and not fit for purpose.”