Police were ‘desperate’ say Oban climate rebels
Oban rebels say the Metropolitan Police were ‘desperate’ when they banned a mass climate protest in London last month.
More than 400 Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists from round the UK were arrested during the four-day ban in London last month that has now been ruled unlawful by the High Court.
There was only one arrest from Oban, but that happened before the ban, implemented under Section 14 of the Public Order Act and covering the whole of London, came into effect at 9pm on Monday October 14, lasting until 6pm on Friday October 18.
Those who were arrested and not charged with other offences can now sue the
Met for false imprisonment and may be entitled to compensation.
The landmark judgement follows a judicial review into the legality of the Met’s attempt to shut down all Extinction Rebellion protests during most of the second week of the autumn rebellion.
Finding in Extinction Rebellion’s favour, Lord Justice Dingemans and Justice Chamberlain said: ‘We have held that the decision to impose the condition was unlawful because Superintendent McMillan had no power to impose it under section 14(1) of the 1986
Act. The decision to impose the condition on October 14, 2019, will be quashed.’
A spokesperson for XR Oban said: ‘The increasing numbers of people joining the rebellion makes policing difficult. The Section 14 ban has correctly been proved to be illegal. It was a desperate attempt to contain this peaceful and legal demonstration.
‘Perhaps the police would be better employed asking that the government listens to the people and their concerns rather than trying to stop something that will not be going away. This issues affects all of us, the damage to our planet and impact on our climate is predicted to escalate and soon. We have nowhere else to go so we must act now.’
The spokesperson added: ‘Extinction Rebellion believes that the government’s inability to give this matter the urgency it demands means there is no choice now but to rebel. At the heart of this rebellion is the principle of non-violence and the desire to create new and more effective structures for how we make decisions and move forward.
‘Millions of people are concerned and therefore attracted to these values and the need for urgent action. In fact a recent YouGov report stated that the environment is now the second most important issue for 18- to 24-year-olds. No wonder. Their lives will be massively impacted by the changes which are coming, unless action is taken now.’