We must clamp down on disruptive protest
On two occasions this week, environmental activists belonging to the Extinction Rebellion splinter group Insulate Britain were allowed to block traffic on the M25. The disruption they caused was considerable, jeopardising the livelihoods of those who were stuck in the resulting congestion and potentially even endangering lives, given that the protests may have been linked with a serious crash on the motorway.
It is little wonder that motorists were furious. Some even attempted to remove the protesters themselves. How Insulate Britain thinks its fatuous activism will persuade anyone of the justice of its cause is baffling.
Just as baffling to much of the public, however, will have been the actions of the police. Almost 90 of the activists who were arrested on Monday were allowed to return on Wednesday to do it all over again. Officers prevented members of the public from intervening to reopen the road. Footage emerged of one telling the protesters that, if any of them were “in any discomfort or need anything, just let us know”. Now, an astonishing new video uncovered by this newspaper seems to show the police actively facilitating the blockade.
There is obviously a right to legitimate protest. But that right has to be balanced against other considerations, including the ability of everyone else to go about their business. It should go without saying that there are considerable reputational risks to police forces if they give the impression of standing on the side of extremists instead of the public.
Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, has made it clear that she expects the police to take decisive action against these disproportionately disruptive protests. The complication is that, thanks to a recent Supreme Court ruling, the law surrounding what amounts to reasonable disruption has been mired in confusion, which has arguably left the police in an invidious position.
Clarity from the president of the Supreme Court on this matter would help. But the bizarre sight of police officers allowing activists to block the motorway makes a change in the law even more urgent.
The Government is currently pushing a new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill through Parliament. It seems that it cannot reach the statute book soon enough.