Police accused of facilitating assault on press freedom
Politicians criticise Hertfordshire Constabulary after Extinction Rebellion protesters prevent delivery of national newspapers
POLICE were last night criticised for failing to halt a demonstration intended to stifle the freedom of the press, as Extinction Rebellion was accused of crossing the line “from protest to planned criminality”.
Hertfordshire Constabulary was condemned after its assistant chief constable Owen Weatherill said his force was “committed to facilitating peaceful protest and ensuring compliance” instead of dispersing the crowd.
It also emerged that warnings activists were planning to target newspaper printworks were first reported nine months ago.
Lord Blunkett, the former Labour home secretary, said last night that the anarchic behaviour of the protesters should have been quashed quickly by Hertfordshire Constabulary, which apparently sent only six officers to the Broxbourne plant when the alarm was raised shortly after 10pm on Friday.
Asked about the failure of police to remove more than 100 demonstrators sitting in the road or chained to infrastructure, he said: “I think they’re mixing up historic debate about [union] picketing with protests relating to political issues, which can be dealt with through normal democratic process.”
He said officers should have used “whatever powers were available” to allow people to go about their business.
Richard Walton, former head of the Met’s counter terrorism command and now senior fellow at Policy Exchange, said the group had shifted from mere protesters into organising “planned criminality, and should be treated as such”. He urged police to get better at gathering intelligence, and intervene “before such acts of criminality”. “Their reticence to do so undermines our democracy, and strengthens extremist groups like XR,” he said.
Ian Austin, a Labour MP, said: “The police should uphold the law, enable people to go to work and read the papers they choose.”
At around 10pm on Friday, nearly 200 activists targeted printing presses at Broxbourne and Knowsley, near Liverpool. A small group held a demonstration outside another print factory near Motherwell in Scotland. No warning about the demonstrations had been made with the local police.
Within minutes, staff at Broxbourne dialled 999. However, Donnachadh McCarthy, XR spokesman at the Broxbourne, said only six officers attended at around 10.15pm. A Hertfordshire force spokesman said no intelligence about the protests was received, and refused to say how many police were sent. A total of 48 protesters were removed by mid morning yesterday, and there were 50 arrests.
Merseyside Police also refused to say how many officers went to the Knowsley presses after Friday’s 10.30pm alert. Due to the smaller nature of that protest – there were 30 arrests – no neighbouring force was called in for support.
It is understood that last night no activists or organiser had been fined up to £10,000 for breaching rules meant to prevent gatherings of 30 or more people during coronavirus restrictions. Although many protesters were seen wearing masks, there appeared to be little attempt to avoid close contact with fellow activists and police. The action at the English plants led to severe delays for deliveries of The Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail and News UK’s The Times and The Sun. In response, The Telegraph has removed the paywall making any online content published this weekend free until Monday.
Despite claiming to be climate change protesters, many activists said they were against the perceived political stance of some newspapers. An XR statement said the action was about racism, as well “immigration policy, the rights and treatment of minority groups and dozens of other issues”.
The shift was seen by many as making XR a political movement, rather than a campaign group.
XR’s plans to target the media began in October last year, Mr McCarthy said, with the intention of causing maximum disruption to papers published by Rupert Murdoch, Telegraph Media Group and Daily Mail and General Trust. A demonstration at Broxbourne planned for April this year was cancelled due to the Covid lockdown.
An XR document, obtained by a Sunday newspaper last December and titled “The Great March for Truth & Blockade”, said: “The [Broxbourne] plant has only one exit road leading to the A10, which makes it very vulnera
ble to a mass blockade. This would block almost all national newspapers for the south of England from being delivered from this plant.” They hoped to maintain the blockade for at least 12 hours or run it “continuously” for three days. Mr McCarthy, a co-author of that report, insisted he was not an organiser of the latest demonstration despite being at Broxbourne.
Ian Murray, executive director of the Society of Editors, said: “It is not acceptable for those who wish only their voices to be heard to attempt to silence others.” Newsprinters said the protests had affected workers doing their jobs, and others such as newsagents who face a “financial penalty”. Asked about the financial impact on newsagents, an XR spokesman said: “Sorry”.
The Prime Minister said that a free press was “vital” to fight climate change because it encouraged debate about the issue.
The Met yesterday issued fines totalling £200,000 to 20 XR members after the group exceeded the limit of 30 people in one gathering. Officers stopped them as they tried to bring their pink boat into central London, and told them to disperse or face the fines.
When the group apparently ignored orders to turn back, officers issued 20 of the £10,000 fines.
‘Their reticence undermines our democracy and strengthens extremist groups like Extinction Rebellion’