RECAP: Angela Rayner cancels by-election appearance amid protests
6.20p.m. update What I saw during Angela Rayner’s farcical visit to Scotland
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In what can only be described as a humiliation for the Labour deputy, she was reduced to scarpering away and answering the few questions she had agreed to from the lawn of a private residence in a small village outside Hamilton.
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cewd4g0nvx5o
Four Just Stop Oil protesters who were planning to glue themselves to the taxiway at Manchester Airport have been jailed.
Officers arrested Indigo Rumbelow, Margaret Reid, Leanorah Ward and Daniel Knorr as they were making their way to the airport on 4 August 2024.
They were equipped with heavy-duty bolt-cutters, angle grinders, glue, sand, Just Stop Oil high-visibility vests and a leaflet containing instructions to follow when interacting with police.
All four were found guilty of conspiracy to intentionally cause a public nuisance and jailed at Manchester Minshull Crown Court for between 18 and 30 months. Additionally, they were each fined £2,000.
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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/huge-victory-democracy
Police officers and protesters clash in Trafalgar Square during a March for Palestine in London, October 14, 2023CAMPAIGNERS celebrated a ”huge victory for democracy” today after the Court of Appeal ruled key anti-protest legislation was forced through unlawfully.
The Home Office had appealed a High Court ruling that struck down laws brought in by the previous Tory government in 2023.
The measures expanded police powers to interfere with protests, lowering the threshold from what is considered “serious disruption” to community life, from “significant” and “prolonged” to “more than minor.”
Civil rights group Liberty challenged the law change, arguing that the measures had been voted down months earlier and that then home secretary Suella Braverman had used secondary legislation, which requires far less parliamentary scrutiny, to implement them.Ms Braverman used so-called “Henry VIII powers” to introduce the laws by clarifying the definition of “serious disruption” under the Public Order Act 1986.
Liberty argued that the broad redefinition of “serious disruption” effectively granted the police “almost unlimited powers to impose conditions on protests.”
The High Court ruled it unlawful last May, but the previous government initiated an appeal, which was continued by Labour after it came to power.
Upholding the ruling today, Lord Justice Underhill, Lord Justice Dingemans and Lord Justice Edis said that ”the term ’serious’ inherently connotes a high threshold … [and] cannot reasonably encompass anything that is merely ‘more than minor’.”
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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/huge-victory-democracy
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/activists-disrupt-draxs-shareholder-agm
Activists hold a banner as they blockade the entranceMORE than 50 activists disrupted Drax’s annual investor meeting in London today, bringing proceedings to a halt for an hour.
The firm operates a wood-burning power plant in Yorkshire, which has received some £6 billion in green subsidies, while operating as Britain’s largest carbon emitter.
Despite a BBC investigation finding that it has burned wood from rare forests in Canada, the firm is set to continue to receive taxpayer money until at least 2031.
Activists blocked the entrance to the venue, preventing shareholders from entering, and dropped a large banner reading “Drax Kills.”
Inside, activists physically disrupted proceedings, rushing to the stage shouting “Drax kills,” before the meeting was forced to close.
Axe Drax spokesperson Sam Johnson said: “We’ve seen over the last year repeated desperate attempts from Drax to silence dissent — from spending millions working with the police to shut down peaceful protest, to silencing whistleblowers. “
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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/activists-disrupt-draxs-shareholder-agm
SIX Greenpeace activists were arrested today following a demonstration outside the US embassy in London against the continued sale of arms to Israel.
Protesters tipped 300 litres of non-toxic, biodegradable blood-red dye from containers with the words “Stop Arming Israel” written on into a large pond in front of the embassy building.
The containers were delivered to the embassy on bicycles disguised as delivery couriers.
Among those arrested was Greenpeace UK co-executive director Will McCallum, on suspicion of conspiracy to cause criminal damage, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Official data shows that since taking office in January, US President Donald Trump has approved nearly $12 billion (£9.3bn) in military sales to Israel.
The group is urging the British and US governments to announce a total arms embargo on Israel to stop its genocide in Gaza.
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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/greenpeace-co-leader-among-activists-arrested-pouring-blood-red-dye-outside-us
9.35 ed: A video of the Greenpeace genocide protest at US Embassy, London.
