Protect the Right to Protest

A guest blog by Jenni Crisp

“The rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are not simply rights we enjoy as individuals. They are the lifeblood of a healthy democracy”.

Peaceful protest is vital to a healthy democracy – without protest, we wouldn’t have weekends, and women wouldn’t be able to vote. Even something as simple as being able to take a walk in the countryside was won through protest. You may not agree with every protest – but without that fundamental right, all of our lives would be very different. That’s why last week in central London a dozen or more Sheffielders joined 1000+ others in taking action to protect our right to protest.

Last week on 29^th and 30^th January, an unprecedented joint review of sentences was heard at the Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ). Sixteen appellants who have been involved in non-violent direct action to raise the alarm about the Climate Emergency are currently in prison and are appealing combined sentences of 41 years. Whatever you think about the disruptive strategies of some climate protests (and I would suggest that the disruption that has been caused by climate protests is relatively small compared to the disruption already experienced in the Global South and starting to impact in the Global North as a result of climate change), these sentences are disproportionately severe. They are at odds with Britain’s history and international practice and have been condemned by the United Nations and other international observers. The UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders, Michael Forst, said last year that the harsh sentences “set a dangerous precedent” for all peaceful protest to hold the government of the day accountable. The sixteen prisoners have become known as “The Lord Walney 16”. Lord Walney (who is John Woodcock, former MP) has a role as a so-called Government “Independent Advisor” on Political Violence and Disruption, however, it has emerged that far from being ‘independent’, Woodcock serves vested corporate interests in the arms and fossil fuel industries. The 16 were all jailed in the months after infamous anti-protest legislation drafted by Woodcock and others called for people holding those same industries to account to be treated as organised criminals.

This is the context in which I travelled to London alongside 1000+ protesters from Sheffield and across the country. We stood outside the RCJ in solidarity with the “Lord Walney 16” and with the 40+ political prisoners in the UK, who have been imprisoned for taking direct action against the Fossil Fuel and Israeli arms industries in recent months. We engaged in peaceful, non-violent direct action calling on the government:

1 – To put a stop to the role of arms and oil industry lobbyists, such as Lord Walney, in drafting laws that criminalise those who expose the violence and lies of those industries.

2 – To ensure that everyone who has taken reasonable and proportionate measures to prevent mass loss of life has the opportunity to properly present that as a defence to criminal charges.

3 – To end the jailing of people for taking peaceful action to protect life in accordance with international law.

The central ask of the campaign is that the Attorney General agrees to a request for a fully open and transparent public meeting to discuss the measures necessary to restore the fundamental rights to protest and fair trial. A spokesperson said: “Our broken political system is on trial today. This case is not about whether peaceful climate defenders deserve to be punished with long prison sentences. It is about whether it is acceptable in a democracy to allow wealthy fossil fuel executives to dictate our laws, pervert our criminal justice system and silence opposition to their destructive and harmful business…. The people who are in prison are not there because they disrupted or harmed everyday people – if that were the case, the water company bosses, Post Office execs and those responsible for the Grenfell disaster would be behind bars…They are there because they threaten the profits of the fossil fuel industry”.

During the course of the two days, there were speeches and support from a range of public figures including Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, Juliet Stevenson, Billy Bragg, Jonathan Porritt, Caroline Lucas and many others. Chris Packham said: “We’re in not the fight of our lives, but a fight for our lives. And I think what we are going to see is more people needing to take non-violent direct action to protest in whatever shape or form… we’ve got to raise our voices at this critical time because we are imperilled”.

I found it both sobering and inspiring to be involved in this action, being one of so many people taking a stand together and refusing to be intimidated by the threat of arrest. There was a strong sense of the joy of collective action in a just cause. I was reminded of how much we will need supportive, loving communities in the years ahead; it was good to be part of one such community last week.

The outcome of the mass review is expected within the next few weeks and will be a defining moment for the right to protest in Britain, with far-reaching consequences for our basic democratic rights and freedoms.