To not be sure what I think about the Stansted 15

[Softleftpowerstance]

Guardian coverage today. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/feb/02/stansted-15-emma-hughes-jail-fear-separation-baby-son?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Obviously it must be horrific for the woman to be contemplating being separated from her baby and I think custodial sentences for women with small children should be avoided.

But beyond that, I’m not sure how much sympathy I have but am open to being persuaded. The group seem surprised that a serious law was used against them, which strikes me as naive. The government is going to want to make sure it’s discouraging people from doing similar action in future. Locking on to an aircraft is in itself a serious business.

I’m also not sure what I think about people stopping deportations. I have complete sympathy for the argument that the Home Office is inept and some people are unfairly deported. But I don’t think that’s true of all cases and moreover I’m not sure I’m comfortable with citizens overriding due process to stop planes etc. If collectively we have, like it or not, made a decision that we don’t have open borders and do have immigration rules then the system needs to be able to enforce them.

Another one who believes she should have an abortion.

Nice.

Abortion argument? Who me?

My first post said she shouldn’t be incarcerated including because she has a child. That does not mean she shouldn’t attract a criminal record and a non-custodial penalty.

Ffs read the thread properly! 🙄

No not you!

Not everything is about you

Any person who breaks the law (for whatever reason), and claims she/he should not pay the penalty because of his/her child, is using her child/children as a "Human Shield".
That is truly distasteful.

I think the issue here is that laws introduced around Terrorism are being used against them and that's why amnesty etc are interested.

If the govt decides that anyone protesting against them is committing an act of terrorism then we are in deep shit

This is a political decision.

The penalty in this case could be life imprisonment as they are using laws designed to punish people who commit acts of terrorism.

That's what the noise around this is about.

Of course if she goes to prison for life she will have little relationship with her child. I think they can keep them with them til about 18 months or something in a special unit.

A PP suggested that the child should be removed from her at birth and adopted away (from the father grandparents etc as well) and this would be good as they are a "criminal family".

It's been an inetresting read.