Tag Archives: climate camp

Helen Duffett

Met Police to Twitter at protesters

By Helen Duffett | Thu 20th August 2009 - 3:13 pm

CO11MetPolice twitter screenshot

The Metropolitan Police are trying new tactics to engage with environmental activists at next week’s Climate Camp in London.

The Met have opened a Twitter account @CO11MetPolice (named after its public order unit) which is intended “specifically to inform the Camp for Climate Action of any operational updates relating to the policing of their event starting on 26 August.”

From the Metropolitan Police website:

If you follow us, you can expect tweets covering some or all of the following:

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Helen Duffett

Arrested for requesting a policeman’s badge number

By Helen Duffett | Sun 21st June 2009 - 9:45 pm

From the Guardian today, shocking footage of two women being arrested at Kingsnorth climate camp in Kent last year.

The women had asked police officers who were not displaying their badge numbers, to identify themselves. They were arrested for “obstructing a police officer.”

The video, made by police surveillance officers, shows an officer holding one woman by the neck and the other woman being laid face down on the ground before having her legs bound.

Emily Apple and Val Swain were held in custody for four days but all charges against the women were later dropped.

They have complained to the Independent …

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Andrew May

Opinion: We need a proper public debate on the future of protest policing in our country

By Andrew May | Thu 30th April 2009 - 6:53 pm

Force is a physical power, and I fail to see what moral effect it can have. To yield to force is an act of necessity, not of will — at the most, an act of prudence. In what sense can it be a duty?’
J Jacques Rousseau

I don’t think I am the only one to have quoted the social contract over the G20 protests earlier this month. 350 years on from its writing, Rousseau’s work is still strikingly relevant. It is clear from the outcry following G20 that many are now questioning the role of …

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Stephen Tall

The silence of Da Fink

By Stephen Tall | Fri 3rd April 2009 - 4:49 pm

The Times’s Daniel Finkelstein suddenly seems uncharacteristically shy.

On successive days this week, he has denounced senior Lib Dems – Baroness Williams, Simon Hughes, Chris Huhne and David Howarth – for acting as legal observers to ensure the freedom to protest peacefully was respected at this week’s climate camp in London, organised to coincide with the G20 summit.

As I’ve previously mentioned – here and here – also on successive days Danny has neglected to mention last August’s Kingsnorth climate camp, after which serious concerns were raised about policing methods.

Nor has Danny acknowledged the concerns noted just 10 …

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Stephen Tall

A question for Daniel Finkelstein on the G20 protests

By Stephen Tall | Thu 2nd April 2009 - 2:30 pm

Daniel Finkelstein has another of his regular pops at Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems today. (Danny’s an ex-SDPer, and, like a reformed smoker, is obsessively evangelical in his disdain for its successor party).

Today, as he did yesterday, Danny seeks to demonise four senior Lib Dem politicians – Baroness Williams, Simon Hughes, Chris Huhne and David Howarth – for acting as legal observers monitoring the policing of yesterday’s climate camp protest in London, timed to coincide with the G20 summit.

Today, as he did yesterday, Danny fails to mention the legitimate concerns which were raised – …

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Andrew May

Opinion: Dangerous and intimidatory police tactics made G20 violence inevitable

By Andrew May | Thu 2nd April 2009 - 1:21 pm

First let me put this in context, I was not involved with any group demonstrating in the city for the G20 protests. I am not an anticapitalist (I’m a Lib Dem) I work in marketing, for a charity and have never taken part in direct action.

However, I am concerned about climate change, one of the issues on the G20 agenda. I wanted to see exactly what the climate camp contingent were about, and what kind of message they wanted world leaders to hear. Considering the vast majority of scientific opinion believes we are in severe danger from climate change …

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Stephen Tall

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Shirley, Simon, Chris and David

By Stephen Tall | Wed 1st April 2009 - 1:45 pm

The Times tells us that four senior Lib Dems will be on hand to inspect police treatment of protesters at today’s climate camp in London’s Square Mile:

Four Liberal Democrats – Baroness Williams of Crosby, Simon Hughes, Chris Huhne and David Howarth – will act as legal observers at the climate camp to prevent violence initiated by police, rather than protesters.

Mr Howarth, the MP for Cambridge, said that police and media were guilty of “talking up the violence”, adding: “The danger is that they are putting off peaceful protesters, and attracting the wrong sort.”

Over at the paper’s Comment Central …

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