Unmasking demonstrators

[Mr Prime]

I was just writing about what I saw while I was there. Perhaps you'd like to share what you observed when you were there?

 

I wouldn't know because I was on the normal demo with the normal people who wanted a normal serious demonstration to make a normal serious point. Why can't the extremists do their own thing? Instead the majority of press coverage was given to clowns who will all be sipping Pinot Noir at dinner parties in ten years and talking about Henry's private schooling.

 

The Police are purely reactive on these things. Many would say they were soft. There was footage of masked demonstrators running past lines of Police who did nothing. Had the Police been the fascist dogs you imagine they would have simply grabbed them on sight on suspicion of a breach of the peace.

[Mr Prime]

But yes, most of the police were very mellow and sympathetic indeed. Rightly so, there was little if any need for any other kind of reaction.

 

Once the demonstrators were in the shop what do you think the correct Police reaction should have been? You realise of course that the rest of the worlds Police forces watch the footage and shake their heads at the UK Police's softness?

[gularscute]

I wouldn't know because I was on the normal demo with the normal people who wanted a normal serious demonstration to make a normal serious point. Why can't the extremists do their own thing? Instead the majority of press coverage was given to clowns who will all be sipping Pinot Noir at dinner parties in ten years and talking about Henry's private schooling.

 

The Police are purely reactive on these things. Many would say they were soft. There was footage of masked demonstrators running past lines of Police who did nothing. Had the Police been the fascist dogs you imagine they would have simply grabbed them on sight on suspicion of a breach of the peace.

 

Most of the people around F&M at that point were also Normal People on the The Normal Demo, it was the sight of police aggression that stirred them up. Even then, at that point, the crowd reaction only involved calls to desist what they were doing e.g manhandling peaceful protestors and pushing, shoving and lashing out with batons at people who were simply walking past. If I was trying to deal with a crowd, the last thing I would do is take action that would send a wave of anger through them.

 

It's naive to say the police are purely reactive when attending demos. Most of them are but there are a significant number of them that instigate violence. Demonstrators, even when they're part of a crowd, are usually quite aware of their own lack of helmets, body armour, batons, CS gas etc and they are wary of engaging unless they suffer extreme provocation.

 

The UK Uncut people in F&M are hardly extremists. Like you say, many of them could well be sipping Pinot Noir at dinner parties in ten years time. Whatever the case, I admire what they're doing. They seem to be idealistic youngsters who are making an important point, there was no need to direct any aggression toward them. If you watch the Youtube footage from inside you can see that all they're doing is standing around chanting. Slogans were chalked or painted on the balcony outside but you'd have to be pretty highly strung to see that as being a threat to the social order.

[gularscute]

Once the demonstrators were in the shop what do you think the correct Police reaction should have been? You realise of course that the rest of the worlds Police forces watch the footage and shake their heads at the UK Police's softness?

 

 

They should have been left to do what they were doing. Ideally, the police should have linked arms with them and joined in the chanting, that would have helped immensely. The repair bill for what little damage there was could have been picked up out of the CEO's loose pocket change.

 

I take it the head shaking is done by police forces in countries that use gunfire and tanks to deter demonstrators?