No more Protest

[lightinthebox]

Regardless of your views of Just Stop Oil, we should all be worried.

This has gone through easily because people hate Just Stop Oil, it’s an easy target and has fooled people.

We should not be celebrating lengthy jail sentences for planning protests, we should be scared about what this means.

Not just that, but if peaceful protests equal a jail sentence then what’s to stop people from going to violence if they know they can’t protest.

People should stop and think, ignore your prejudice and see the bigger picture.

I suspect a PP will have already said this but they were planning massive disruption to a major motorway. That, to me, is not peaceful protest.

nor is daubing people and artefacts with orange. That is vandalism at the best end of the spectrum, and edging towards terrorism at the worst end.

There is a huge difference between peaceful marching and protest and destructive behaviour. Just Stop Oil aren’t keen on being moderate and they have gone too far.

i think the sentences were harsh compared to what people get for sexual assault/rape/dangerous driving etc but their disruption costs money.

Is that because it's covered in soup?

People are so unaware that the scale and cost of climate disruption will be orders of magnitude higher than anything JSO have done.

But DrRiver, peaceful slow marching has been a criminal offense since 2023 on account of causing public disruption.

I have no time for the antics of JSO but a non violent protest now carry’s a heftier jail sentence than an actual rape.

This is fucking scary.

I agree OP. People don't like Just Stop Oil and are prepared to give away our rights to get one over them.

I've seen a chart for average sentences and these are long sentences for planning to do something, not even doing it.

I dont think.people appreciate the gradual creep against our various protest rights.

And people have too much faith that this government is ok so it won't matter but once the precedent has been set it can be used against all sorts by any government.

I have been involved in demonstrations about special education. I havent defaced things or stopped cars n a way people might call terrorism. But we've done things like leave a school bag representing each child without a school place, on the steps of council offices. It was probably disruptive for a very short time. It makes me nervous of that sort of thing now.

Hedda, you can't view this sentence in isolation. The 'whole picture' currently emerging around peaceful protest and civil disobedience in the UK, including recent introduction of new legislation, should have us all sitting up and paying close attention.

How come there's been all those pro Palestinian marches then?

They should have got longer. Hope they are enjoying their protesting inside. On a lighter note, perhaps their carbon footprint is down since their opportunity has been restricted, rendering them unable to drive diesel cars, live in uninsulated house and litter the streets in the name of climate activism.

Good that they’ve been jailed, but they won’t serve 5 years anyway. They will serve a little time in an open prison, and then get released with a tag.🤷‍♀️

I've never seen a peaceful protester be arrested.

I've seen people deliberately causing mass disruption to others that also caused a danger to other people's lives be arrested. I'm fine with that.

Just Stop Oil's actions alienate them to others and damage their cause.

Yes. Slow marching that blocks major routes and disrupts the functioning of infrastructure that people rely on is banned. Because it can be dangerous and highly disruptive.

Planning a normal march on an agreed route with police support isn’t banned.

And what’s the border line between peaceful and disruptive? Don’t you see the danger of this? You might say marches are peaceful, police could decide that’s disruptive and deserves a jail sentence.

Dont be fooled just because of Just Stop Oil hate,

Sashh, I think you will find that many climate protesters have much of the kind of activism you suggest under their belts too, including more traditional 'writing to your MP' and 'signing a petition' undertakings.

This is one of the reasons there should never be a vote on whether we leave the European Court of Human Rights. There are far too many people who are distracted by jingling keys to notice what’s really going on.

For example, the test case will be a wife beating, ugly, drug dealing terrorist foreigner, who’s used ECHR to stay in UK. Many people would back the removal of ECHR law to remove him, not realising they’ve also agreed to remove very important rights for themselves as Humans.

I know people hate JSO, but looks at what this means in perspective. If people planned to block roads in protest at the issue of SEN support, the poor maintenance of school buildings, or the state of the NHS, police misogyny or a new Poll Tax, they could also face a 5 year sentence.

GoldFrame ^"I’ve read RHs lengthy description of the court case and don’t think he helped himself there either.

The fact that they all ended up representing themselves is telling. It is likely that they did not listen to legal advice"^

Just to add: avoiding arrest and prison has never been a primary concern of climate activism in the XR or JSO tradition (see peaceful mass arrests of early XR marches). That's not the point. There is an acceptance of that aspect of the rule of law. But it is deemed that the consequences of not acting will be worse, so therefore civil disobedience is carried out, in full knowledge of the likely consequences. It should also be noted that other judgements have been passed which have found in favour of protesters on these grounds.

I completely agree. I have no sympathy for the idiocy of JSO, but it's a very slippery slope when you start imprisoning people for planning crimes - or even maybe being suspected of planning crimes.

That is partly why they lost my support. Targeting electric public transport and places where people don't travel by car largely was the other reason.

You can support a cause without supporting those advocating it because of their methods.

We have the ability to stage peaceful protests. There are rules however to ensure public safety. These rules include working with police and councils to plan your route or protest area. This group was deliberately choosing to deliver their protests in a way that would cause maximum disruption to bring attention to their cause. This could have led to minor or major impacts for many people. They were also (though not part of this case) attacking artwork. Other protestors targeted Stonehenge and vandalized the stones. Druids were not able to worship as they had planned as a result.

If there are lawful ways to protest and if people are choosing to organise forms of protest outside of the established rules designed to maximise disruption and impact on many people then should there be a consequence for this? And if the protests were about something different that you strongly didn't agree with; would you feel the same?

Very true.

Imagine if they'd tried to disrupt/block Joe Biden when he travelled to a CLIMATE SUMMIT using five private planes and 85 cars.

How long would they have been imprisoned for then? Or maybe they would have received no jail time at all, as you have to still be alive to be imprisoned...

YANBU but, I am looking forward to seeing the response from those celebrating this outcome the next time farmers or lorry drivers organise a rolling roadblock or women's rights or civil rights activists March on the capital

I definitely, 100%, totally sure they'll be demanding the organisers of those protests are handed lengthy jail sentences 👀.

I was shocked to hear that they received 5 year sentences, I thought the Gaols are full and people are being released early, plus I hoped the Labour party may look at as it does impact democracy.

What are the lawful ways to protest now as I thought this was something the Conservatives introduced to stop the Striking?

I agree with you.

5 years is ludicrous when so many violent offenders get less than this and that includes rapists and child abusers and at a time where prisons are already dangerously overcrowded.

The Conservatives put in place all these laws aiming to ban even peaceful protest simply to try to control the population and shut down anyone who did not agree with them.

The new government needs to look at this urgently.

The environment should be one of our biggest concerns.

It is shameful that we have water companies that have turned our rivers and seas into sewers while making millions for themselves and shareholders and they have faced no legal consequences whatsoever.

I really think this shows our priorities have gone badly wrong.

I don't agree with some of these people's method but I do agree with their cause.

I wonder if people commenting here would feel the same if women's were being locked up for protesting/marching against violence and sexual abuse...

if you remember the suffragettes, their protests were not always a quiet/peaceful matter. Protests against racism or for gay rights in the USA have also had to be disruptive during past decades for very good reasons.

People have short memories it seems and our freedom of speech is a fragile victory that we should treasure.