The pathetic response was the worst aspect
Millions of ordinary people will be absolutely furious about the protests by Extinction Rebellion. And they will be livid about Hertfordshire Police’s pathetic response. It is completely unacceptable for protesters to block roads outside printing plants and prevent editions of The Daily Telegraph, The Times, The Sun and Daily Mail from being distributed.
Of course people have the right to protest. I’ve been on a fair few demonstrations myself. Marching through the streets or standing on a pavement with a placard is a timehonoured way of raising issues or campaigning for change in a free society. But a free society depends on a free press holding the powerful to account. It is an outrageous attack on the freedom of the press, which is one of the fundamental pillars of our democracy and any free society.
You either believe in a free press or you don’t. You can’t have protesters or politicians deciding what people can or can’t read. And you can’t prevent newspapers being published and distributed because you disagree with their editorial line. The great irony is that newspapers do write about climate change, and by shutting them down, the protesters deny readers the opportunity to learn about it.
I suppose we could be amused. But I’m too annoyed at the patronising attitudes of the self-appointed climate change police who think they are blessed with the moral authority and superiority to decide what the rest of us can and can’t read. Who do they think they are?
The worst aspect of the protests, however, is Hertfordshire Police’s pathetic response. What a disgrace it is to see the force’s assistant chief constable saying they were “working to facilitate the rights of both the protesters and those affected by their presence”. What on earth does that mean? People can protest all they like but the police have a duty to keep roads open, allow people to go to work and newspapers to be published.
The police even complained that protesters were not cooperating!
Knowing Priti Patel as I do, I am fairly sure there will be a blistering phone call from the Home Office to Hertfordshire reminding the police of their responsibility to keep the roads open and to arrest protesters who won’t “cooperate” in future.
Ian Austin is a former MP for Dudley North