The fight for our right to protest
By: Grace Peek
Extinction Rebellion protest in London 2019
This year marks the 30th anniversary of one of the most influential protests in British history, the Poll Tax riots. The event brought 200,000 protesters into central London, very quickly descended into a picture of chaos. Today, Londoners march in huge numbers to highlight the government’s inaction in regard to the climate crisis. These recent protests have seen more arrests than any previous demonstrations.
So why is this? Is our right to protest being respected?
“I was frightened. They were using violence and intimidation to remove us from the site,” says Bel Jacobs, an Extinction Rebellion (XR) activist, who was protesting in Trafalgar Square last autumn.
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Last October saw XR protestors take to London’s streets to fight for climate change action. This led to the Metropolitan Police’s ban of these protests across London, declaring that on the 14th of October 2019 all protesters must leave Trafalgar Square by 9 pm. There were several reports of the mistreatment of protestors. One man’s finger was said to be broken by an officer. A blind man, arrested but then later released without his cane, left to find his way home. A carer, who came to adjust the oxygen tank of a disabled activist, was arrested before she could do her job.
NETPOL, the network for police monitoring, is an organisation that monitors excessive, intimidating or violent policing. According to their data, there were over 520 reported abuses of police power. This included 200 accusations of rough handling and over 99 cases of inappropriate behaviour.
The Poll Tax riots in London in 1990
“They came around 9pm and took us out of our tents,” says Bel. “I understand that they are only doing their job. But we were holding a peaceful sit in..they just went too far.”
Under Article 11 of the Human Rights Act 1998, individuals have a right to freedom of assembly and association, to express their views through marches, protests, and demonstrations. During the XR autumn demonstration, over 1,100 arrests were made.
With further protests commencing this spring, are protesters safe and their rights respected?
PC Robert Radwell, a Metropolitan police officer, was in Trafalgar Square when several protestors were arrested. “Realistically the force has less power than ever. To say we abused our power is ridiculous. We didn’t arrest people because they were protesting. We arrested them for failing to comply with Section 14 of the Public Order Act, which had been issued earlier that day,” he says. Section 14 of the Public Order Act states that a public assembly can be stopped if it is leading to serious public disorder, damage to property or community.
TNS, on behalf of the Independent Office for Police Conduct, produced a report in 2015, concerning the police’s use of force during protests. The report found that young people, black and minority ethnic groups, as well as people living in London, were most worried about the possibility of the police using excess force.
XR has voiced their concerns with police treatment
In 2006, 120 protestors were travelling to a demonstration against the Iraq War, when the police stopped their coach and confiscated items such as scissors and helmets. Whilst there was no warrant for arrest, the coaches were turned around and not allowed to go to the protest. The protestors claim the police were nothing but brutal and used needless force once they arrived.
The case was taken to court and won on the grounds that the police had unlawfully impeded their right to freedom of expression. Such cases are becoming more frequent. “The government, and the police, fail to understand that they cannot stop a protest just because it opposes their ‘plan’,” says human rights lawyer, Graham Bridgeman. He says he has seen this injustice take place hundreds of times throughout his career.
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“Back into the 1990s there was an extensive issue with protests turning violent, so the police had all right to use force. Now protests are mostly peaceful, with only a handful of people resorting to violence. My clients have all been victims of the police.”
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The poll tax riots, saw horrific scenes that shocked the nation. Hundreds of people were left injured, women and children shrieking as the days’ events unfolded in Trafalgar Square. One woman was sent flying as a riot squad van accidently hit her. Scaffolding was used to fight the police. The situation collapsed into anarchy. It is estimated that 340 people were arrested out of the 200,000 that attended the demonstration. A staggering 1,100 arrests were made during the peaceful autumn XR protests.
People have questioned why the latter numbers are so high. The may day protests, in 2001, had the highest number of arrests after the XR protests. Yet these protests were responsible for damage to over 20 shops, with rocks and smoke missiles being fired. The XR rebels were also arrested for public order offences, and criminal damage, but on a much smaller scale. The vast majority of arrests were due to traffic violations, with London’s already jam-packed roads coming to a standstill.
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“We have never seen protests that have lasted this long…and on this scale of disruption. The arrests are relative to the amount of days the protests lasted. Whilst there was less violence than previous protests, individuals still broke the law through other means,” says PC Radwell. Many have suggested the Met, with governmental support, wish to shut these protests down as they do not care about the causes people are fighting for.
Reflecting an unacceptable lack of respect for individual and protest rights. But this may not necessarily be fair when you look at the figures. There may be more arrests, but the nature of protests has changed, more individuals are willing to commit traffic violations than they are willing to turn violent. Yet they are still breaking the law.
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