We'd like to take a moment to speak out and add our voices to the #KillTheBill campaign.

Cambridge Community Kitchen operates out of a squatted building (The Lockon) and our mutual aid service would not be possible without the free commercial kitchen that this squat provides, or the dedication and hard work of the crew within it. The new PCSC (Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts) bill threatens the existence of spaces like this, through its criminalisation of trespass- which is currently a civil matter.

In this country, there is a beautiful and long history of disused buildings being squatted and turned into community services and social centres. When governments hell-bent on austerity slash our communities, squatting allows us to take matters into our own hands and provide the things we need for each other (whether that's free food, education, free housing, refuges for those escaping domestic violence - you name it, squatters have done it).

We'd particularly like to shout out and send our solidarity to those involved in RA-T's pizza squat (https://ra-t.org). Earlier this week, a disused restaurant in Soho was squatted and used to cook & distribute free pizza. After 2 days, police lied about a 'gas leak' in order to force entry into the building, where they threw the pizza crew to the ground, crushing their chests and necks and punching at least one crew member unconscious. The pizza crew were all arrested - and all for a community foodshare.

The disproportionate violence of the police towards the pizza squat is nothing new. It's the tip of an institutionally racist and sexist iceberg which criminalises and has never protected marginalised folks. With the new powers proposed by this bill, so many communities are threatened - gypsy, roma and traveller communities, black and brown folks, trans folks, rough sleepers, protesters and squatters (and more). We must stand in solidarity.

This new bill could put those involved in CCK in prison...for the crime of bringing life to an old building, and stepping in to lend a hand to some of the folks this government are happy to let starve.

If you value the work that we do at CCK, we urge you to speak out against this bill. Below is a list of ways you can do this:

- Petitions:

(*nb: both these petitions focus on the right to protest)

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/579012

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/protect-the-freedom-to-protest

- get creative at home: hang banners, put posters in your windows, and post photos to social media with the hashtag #KillTheBill

- get stickering on your daily walk! (You can find some stickers on https://ra-t.org or make your own).

- write to your MP asking them to campaign against the Bill when it comes back to the commons. This link from FFT sends an automatic email to your MP and takes about 30 seconds: https://action.gypsy-traveller.org/page/78097/action/1

- organise your own creative action or protest against the bill! Remember to stay covid-safe ♥️