The Guardian, Frances Wright: But seeking a judicial review of the way the 1 April protests were policed is unlikely to be an easy process.
The Climate Camp went to the European Climate Exchange in Bishopsgate on 1 April to highlight the failure of carbon trading as a solution to climate change. We were met by the same kind of heavy-handed policing as at previous Climate Camps - but for once, the outrageous behaviour of the police has been reported widely in the mainstream media. This gives us a welcome opportunity to challenge and debate the way protest is now being policed in the UK.
After the Kingsnorth Climate Camp, the legal team were so frustrated at the pre-emptive policing - involving blanket searches and seizures of people’s possessions - and the lack of ways to effectively hold the police to account for their actions, that we produced a report and film to document what had happened.
After the G20 Climate Camp, we did the same.
Last week as the author of this report I appeared as a witness before the joint parliamentary select committee on human rights and the home affairs select committee. While it is positive that there is parliamentary interest, we are worried that the only detailed inquiry being undertaken into the policing of the G20 protests is being carried out by HM inspectorate of constabulary.
This is hardly independent, but rather the police reviewing their own performance against their own standards; an exercise in damage limitation at best.
Tags: carbon trading, Climate Camp, European Climate Exchange, Frances Wright, G20, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, Home Affairs Select Committee, Kingsnorth, Metropolitan Police, The Guardian
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