Government to unveil attempts to crack down on climate activism and strike action

Former acting Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, will have a lasting impact on protesters and the way civil unrest looks in Britain

Poppy Bedford
4th November 2022
Image Credit - Pixabay
Despite the chaotic scenes surrounding our government in recent weeks, once home secretary Suella Braverman had time to propose policy that would make police “more proactive” in “fighting” protesters, climate activists and strike action. This has been spurred on by the Just Stop Oil protests in the National Gallery where soup was thrown at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and climate activists defaced the New Scotland Yard sign, both taking place on the 14th of October 2022.

The two women involved in the tomato souping of Van Gogh’s painting, Anna Holland, 20, from Newcastle, and Phoebe Plummer, 21, from Lambeth deny “damage to the frame” and refute the claims that the painting has been affected in any way; supported by the testimonies of bystanders who stated that the soup was already being wiped from the glass and the frame.

Lora Johnson, 38, responsible for the orange paint on the Scotland yard sign was released on bail along with Holland and Plummer but is being charged with criminal damage under £5000 as the prosecution claims the removal of the orange paint cost £4,750.

The prosecution claims the removal of the orange paint cost £4,750

28 people were arrested in connection to the actions on the 14th of October, all involved with Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion.

Following in the footsteps of Priti Patel and the clamp down on protesting during the Covid 19 pandemic, Suella Braverman, who was fired as Home secretary on the 19th of October following a short scandal regarding her personal email, put forward the public order bill to “stop the protesters who use guerrilla tactics and bring chaos and misery to the law-abiding majority” in response to the actions on the 14th of October.

This crackdown on protesters is highly controversial even within the Conservative party as Sir Charles Walker, MP for Broxbourne, stated during the house of commons debate over ‘serious disruption prevention orders’ claiming the bills were “appalling” with “plenty of existing laws to deal with people who make other people’s lives miserable.” There have also been many responses to the extreme suggestions put forward about ankle-tagging protesters who have not been found guilty in a court of law.

Apart from the worrying trend this poses to the public and our rights to be heard, exasperated as the public had no say in the last two prime ministers, it puts the people not only at odds with the government as more and more professions continue to go on strike: teachers calling for a ballot on whether to join the trains, mail, barristers and many others in strike action, but places the public at odds with the police as Braverman wants to ‘fight’ protesters with these new measures. This attitude becomes startlingly similar to those of the 1980’s miner's strikes as police were used as a resource to ‘fight’ protesters rather than supervise and protect.

The government aimed to introduce measures to restrict our right to protest as civil disobedience grows and the government seemingly implodes on itself. Whether or not Braverman’s replacement, Grant Shapps, is carrying on with her crusade against public expression is not yet known, and whether he lasts through the search for Liz Truss' successor, will prove to be seen in the next few weeks.

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