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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Man-handling climate change protestors

999 replies

Leafyhouse · 20/06/2019 23:17

Anyone else watch with horror as a climate change protestor was forcefully removed by Mark Field from the Mansion House speech? I mean, I'm no fan of political activism, 'direct action' and so on, but she wasn't presenting him with any direct threat, just shouting and being annoying. AIBU to think that his behaviour was totally unacceptable there?

OP posts:
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Isatis · 22/06/2019 13:16

I wouldn't rely too much on the law lecturer. Most lawyers who actually practise at the sharp end will tell you that what law lecturers say doesn't necessarily prove to be too reliable out in the real world.

Burpsandrustles · 22/06/2019 13:18

She shouldn't have done it and anyone who chose to barge into anywhere like that does so with risk of being hurt.

There's simply no way of knowing what someone has or what threat they pose.

It's her fault she created the opportunity for incident.

However! I can certainly understand the shock and outrage.... He seemed very comfortable wrestling her out! Rather too handy at it!

mummmy2017 · 22/06/2019 13:18

By the way express poll, came out as 80% of people thought he was right to stop her.....
Better a woman with a bruised ego, than bloodshed

BlamesFartsOnTheNeighbour · 22/06/2019 13:23

The law lecturer claims sports and commercial law as his main areas of expertise on his university website.

Gth1234 · 22/06/2019 13:25

I posted a lot earlier on. These protestors can count themselves lucky not to have been shot. In many places they may well have been.

I have no doubt there will be a serious ramping up of security after this. I bet it wasn't G4S on the door.

cinnamontoast · 22/06/2019 13:27

Slamming a woman up against a pillar and grabbing her neck isn’t abuse, Buster?

As for misogyny - Mark Field has form.

SassyBadger · 22/06/2019 13:29

Wow, readers of the Express thought the Tory MP did the right thing! Colour me shocked Grin

Buster72 · 22/06/2019 13:29

www.ljmu.ac.uk/about-us/staff-profiles/faculty-of-arts-professional-and-social-studies/school-of-law/eric-baskind

@Isis
@BlamesFartsOnTheNeighbour

There is his full bio, for sake of clarity, he also teaches criminal law....and is a consultant on use of restraint...

Buster72 · 22/06/2019 13:32

2014, Eric was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his outstanding work in the prevention and managing of violence and aggression.

I reckon Eric knows his onions

cinnamontoast · 22/06/2019 13:33

Those protestors can count themselves lucky not to have been shot.

Jesus Christ, Grth, get a grip. What do you think this is - the Wild West?

Gth1234 · 22/06/2019 13:37

ffs.

Everywhere you go nowadays there is increased security. Getting on a plane. For a while public litter bins were sealed. I am quite surprised to see an unsealed one nowadays. Yesterday in Walthamstow two men in burqas threw acid at a market trader.

Who knew what these protestors were up to? I was amazed that they got in, that nobody tried to stop them, and I am equally amazed that they were able to leave without hindrance. I was amazed that the Chancellor and the governor of the bank of England weren't hustled away. Next time something bad happens see what you have to say then.

Even if this lot meant no harm, this example will give ideas to those who do mean harm.

mummmy2017 · 22/06/2019 13:48

Just asked a roomful of post secondary kids, doing an event, one of the room actually mentioned it...
Not one child said she didn't deserve it, every single one of the twenty here made the same comment about how lucky it was she was stopped and that she could have been armed....
Not one person in the room mentioned wife beating or domestic violence....
Nor are the papers talking about wife beating.
Which leads me to think the domestic violence angle comes from Mumsnet.

SassyBadger · 22/06/2019 13:51

Wow, you're so invested in making sure everyone knows you think she was asking for it.

And you're spreading your bile to teens too to make sure they think she was asking for a good neck grabbing too.

Vomitous.

cinnamontoast · 22/06/2019 13:53

People who mean harm don’t need to study Greenpeace protestors for inspiration, Grth1234. They can just do what they’ve always done.

What should be concerning us about this incident is the state’s attitude towards those who protest against it. If we do not have the right to peaceful protest, we do not live in a democracy. It is very telling that this incident took place in the heart of the City of London, an enclave of hidden power and privilege with little or no accountability. Mark Field behaved as he did not because he thought she was a terrorist but out of arrogance, rage and entitlement. The privileged structures of the City need dismantling and replacing with transparency and accountability. It’s apt that Greenpeace protested there, because it is those privileged interests that are most hindering the fight to stop climate change.

cinnamontoast · 22/06/2019 13:55

What type of school was that, Mummy2017? Because at my DD’s school they took precisely the opposite view.

mummmy2017 · 22/06/2019 14:00

Do you think teens don't watch the news and talk...
Everyone should be aware about putting yourself into positions of danger, and being aware of cause and effect... To your own personal safety...

IcedPurple · 22/06/2019 14:00

Not one child said she didn't deserve it, every single one of the twenty here made the same comment about how lucky it was she was stopped and that she could have been armed....

You're actually using the views of 14 year olds as support for your opinion? Do you seriously think that makes your arguments (what was it, she had intent to not be 'nice'?) look good?

Isatis · 22/06/2019 14:02

y, he also teaches criminal law.

As stated, teaching criminal law is not the same as practising it.

mummmy2017 how many of the children in that class had read the reports in any detail? Did they know, for instance, that this woman wasn't armed, that no-one else thought she represented any physical threat, or that Field took no steps to restrain her hands and arms thus indicating that he didn't think she posed a threat either?

Or did they, by any chance, get the facts as filtered through you?

mummmy2017 · 22/06/2019 14:06

Nope someone said about the video, and they had all watched it...
Their comments were gut reactions too just the video.
All 16 to 19 year olds
Who will be helping out at charity event tonight. This was a course provided free by one of the dad's....

cinnamontoast · 22/06/2019 14:11

Which leads me to think the domestic violence angle comes from Mumsnet

No Mummy2017, it comes from organisations supporting victims of sexual and domestic violence, which have expressed concern about this incident - as has the Women’s Equality Party.

Buster72 · 22/06/2019 14:11

@Isatis

The practitioners consult him, read the whole bio.

Buster72 · 22/06/2019 14:15

we do not have the right to peaceful protest, we do not live in a democracy.

The right to protest is absolute....the right to trespass is not....

I could repeat this ad-nauseum but I fear I will break the keyboard typing it out.

leckford · 22/06/2019 14:24

Typical trust fund snowflake, this achieved nothing. What about going to the countries where they are destroying forest for palm oil and by the way shooting organoutans. Or to places in Africa where they are shooting elephants and the politicians running the places are probably being paid off by organised crime to close their eyes to it.

She might easily have been shot in this countries. We need a well armed and trained militia to protect other animals and a shoot to kill humans policy in these corrupt countries

Graphista · 22/06/2019 14:24

"Dont worry if Boris is made PM Mr Field will probably become Minister for Women"

Apparently he's Hunts no 2!

"But then I don’t see the world through the ideological lens of “men oppress women”." Why not when that is generally speaking true? 2 women a week killed by current or former partners, undisguised murders defended as "rough sex gone wrong", blatantly obvious racists being repeatedly found not guilty, grooming gangs victims portrayed as "troublemakers"... I think it's pretty bloody obvious that IS the culture we're living in and this incident just shows that men know they can get away with doing so even when there's umpteen witnesses and they're filmed doing so!

CinnamonToast - exactly! It's clearly an assault and if we get into a situation where anybody protesting is legally OK to assault we can kiss any pretence at our being a democracy goodbye!

He didn't just restrain her or prevent her getting to wear she was heading he assaulted her and forced her to move away. He had no right to do this none!

What I also find utterly shameful is that not one person challenged him at the time or even attempted to come to her aid, the tories consider themselves "better" than others with less "class" well their actions on this night were completely devoid of class, compassion or courage.

"Isatis, that is a really good point about him letting her go when he got outside. Why on earth would he do that if he thought she had broken the law?" Agreed but then it was clear to me from the first this was nothing more than a man physically bullying a woman he disagreed with.

"If I was Janet Barker - a woman who’s spent 20 years trying to make the world better - I think I’d feel utterly betrayed by some of the comments on here. It seems for every violent man there’s a small bunch of colluding women cheering him on and agreeing that courageous women should be shoved firmly back into their place." Unsettlingly accurate

"headed in an agressive manor" bollocks was her manner aggressive! She wasn't even walking that fast!!

"She was not innocent...." Yes she was! She committed NO crime and it's debatable/unknown if she even committed the CIVIL offence of trespass. You really do come across appallingly misogynist to the point I wonder if your username is intended to be misleading.

Mummmy2017 it doesn't matter if she isn't a "good, nice, placatory woman" she did absolutely nothing that warranted that assault NOTHING!

She had NO violent or criminal intent - shown by the fact she didn't fight back even when assaulted. Your tying yourself in pretzel shaped knots trying to defend the indefensible!

And I've already seen and read several articles today about his track record of misogyny and antagonism towards peaceful protestors and arrogant attitude generally. Those youngsters you spoke with today seriously need educating on misogyny and power imbalance and democracy. What was the event? A young tories meetup?

"Do you think teens don't watch the news and talk..." Absolutely not! My dd and her friends are posting about this and discussing on sm and have the complete opposite opinion to the one you claim the teens/young adults you spoke with do. As do my other family and friends with one notable exception who has seriously skewed views on such matters.

cinnamontoast · 22/06/2019 14:25

What does effective protest look like to you, Buster? Where, for example, do you stand on Richard Ratcliffe and his tent outside the Iranian embassy?

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