Chester protest draws a crowd – and our artist Dai Owen draws them

Hundreds of people took to the streets of Chester to protest against Boris Johnson’s plans to shut down Parliament. And our artist Dai Owen was there to cover it, along with our editor Angela Ferguson.

With Brexit being one of THE hot topics across the land at present, we wanted to share some of the reportage sketches drawn by our artist Dai Owen on the night of the protest.

The demo, which was organised by local activist Helen Rutherford Gregory with Cheshire Stop the War Coalition and The People’s Assembly Against Austerity, was one of a number held across the country to try to stop plans to shut down Parliament this month. Protestors said that this would cut down the time available for MPs to stop a no deal Brexit.

Hundreds gathered outside Chester Town Hall with signs and banners to show their support for the protest, with a small minority taking the opportunity to counter protest, with one man saying that the crowd was deluded.

Dai quickly sketched the various speakers at this event, while Angela live tweeted the event via the @wearechester account.

Speakers at the protest included city MP Chris Matheson, North West MEP Julie Ward, Welsh transport minister Ken Skates, local youth councillor Shaun Hingston, 16, along with North West activist Helen Collins and demo organiser Helen Rutherford Gregory.

As events surrounding Brexit develop, we wanted to share Dai’s work. Here are his sketches from the protest, along with some photos taken by Angela on the night.