Coronation

[Pathca]

I’m not getting involved in a back and forth,we will probably never agree,neither of us were there so we only know what we have read

[MAD87]

I would agree if he had been on his way to the Coronation but it was 2am and he was working his usual night shift, along with two women who were also arrested. Rape alarms are one of the things they give out to women who work on the streets. Are you saying they should have not patrolled that night? It's the assumption of guilt instead of innocence that worries me. The guy may well have strong views on the environment but not give a flying f*** about the Monarchy. He may well have just been intending to finish his shift and go home to sleep. Instead he was arrested just because he 'might' have decided to cause trouble twelve hours later.

I'm with you there, Antonia! As a lawyer, I'm particularly concerned about the dent in democracy (and decency) being suffered by the UK at the moment. If ordinary people can't rely on the rule of (democratic) law, what's left? The idea that you can't express yourself calmly and freely without being arrested is abhorrent. Thought police indeed.

[niemeyjt]

Agree. But the law came in because the likes of XR prevented people going about their lawful business which is also unacceptable. As I said, as with everything, pendulums.

[tagh]

Nobody has taken away their right to protest but have protected the folk in the procession from potential trouble from idiots lying on the road, firecrackers thrown at the horses, loudhailers and the like. There are plenty of precedents for that kind of behaviour.

Freedom to protest is not freedom to disrupt.

The police should be congratulated for getting the job done right.

[Antonia]

Nobody has taken away their right to protest

but that is precisely what the police did. Answer me this? What were the organisers supposed to do? They had given an assurance that they had no intention of disrupting anything. For months they liaised with the authorities. They had permission for a demonstration from the very police who then turned around and arrested them. Why would any protest group, however peaceful and law abiding, trust the police after this.

[Mangetout]

It's the Government that should never be trusted, the Police take their orders from them. The UK is sleep walking into a fascist state and the population in general seems to have their eyes closed.

[tagh]

I think that the police did not trust the organisers either to keep their word or to control their members so they erred on the side of caution. Could the trust their members given that at least one had a record for egging the King?
Remember the Grand National and the Paris riots where violence was certainly orchestrated by some groups who were not French.
There are plenty of opportunities for these people to get their point across, in front of cameras.
Nothing to do with removing the right to demonstrate.

[Antonia]

I think that the police did not trust the organisers either to keep their word or to control their members so they erred on the side of caution.

Republic ( the protest group ) are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year. I would have thought the police would have their mettle by now. If they didn't trust the organisers they could have refused to allow the demonstration. As it was it was the police that broke their word.
FWIW my theory is this. There have been a number of reports from 'Republic' members who had already arrived at the designated protest point that word had got out and Trafalgar Square was filled with foreign journalists looking for "an angle". The people who were arrested were the ones offloading the placards from the rental truck. I believe that originally the demonstration was granted because, on the official television feed, the protest would have been out of shot. However with the foreign press milling around there was a risk that an image of a sea of uniform placards saying 'not my king' could spoil Charles's big day. They couldn't confiscate the placards without arresting the people doing the offloading so here we are. If that was their intent it has backfired badly as the arrests are getting major coverage worldwide.

[tagh]

Surely, major coverage worldwide is a tad of a teeny overstatement. However, the French could take a lesson from the UK in how to manage events peacefully.

[Antonia]

Surely, major coverage worldwide is a tad of a teeny overstatement

reuters, cnn, fox news, time, le monde, BFM, aljazeera, Zawya, The Print ( india ), global news ( canada ), sbs, The Journal, to name but a few.