77 charged after Extinction Rebellion newspaper blockade

Kit Heren9 September 2020

Police have charged 77 people following the newspaper blockades by Extinction Rebellion.

The environmental group targeted nine major newspapers at printing presses in Knowsley on Merseyside and Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, leaving some newsagents with empty shelves.

About 80 people were arrested on Saturday across both protests, which received widespread criticism from across the political spectrum.

Hertfordshire Police said 51 people had been charged with obstruction of the highway on Sunday following the demonstration outside the printworks in Waltham Cross, north London.

The statement said two people have been remanded in custody to appear in court on Monday while 49 were released on conditional bail.

It came after officers on Merseyside charged 26 with aggravated trespass on Sunday morning.

Merseyside police said in a statement: "We were contacted at 10.10pm last night, Friday 4th September, following reports that a group of protestors had gathered outside News International on Kitling Road.

"The 30 people arrested for aggravated trespass have been taken to police stations across Merseyside where they will be interviewed by officers.

"A boat and two vans, used by the protestors to cause obstruction to and from the premises of News International have been removed.

"The incident has now been stood down and the surrounding roads and entrances have been fully opened."

They are due to appear at Liverpool and Knowsley Magistrates’ Court and St Helens Magistrates’ Court on January 8 and 13 next year.

Police said all 26 have been granted bail under the condition they do not enter Merseyside or contact any News International employees.

Meanwhile 50 people were arrested at Broxbourne, Hertfordshire police said.

It comes after reports that Home Secretary Priti Patel wants to take a “fresh look” at how XR is classified under law to protect the "tenets of democracy".

It could potentially lead a wider clampdown on the group's activities, which have included bringing cities across the UK to a standstill by forming human barriers along major roads, and by disrupting public transport.

Under additional proposals, Parliament, courts and the press could be given special status in regard to the key role they play in democracy, with the potential for police to be handed beefed-up powers to stop demonstrators entering designated areas outside such premises.

Extinction Rebellion: London demonstrations

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“It would be illegal to stop MPs going to vote or judges getting to court and it would also protect a free press,” a Government source told PA.

But Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has said that police already have the powers to tackle disruption caused by Extinction Rebellion.

Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, Mr Raab said: “We always keep all of our laws under review but I think actually the laws are in place to take relevant enforcement action against criminal behaviour.”

Pressed on the issue again later in the interview, Mr Raab added: “As I said, we keep all our laws under review but I think from everything I’ve seen today, we have the enforcement powers necessary to ensure that kind of behaviour we saw overnight is not repeated.”

Meanwhile former shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott said on Sunday morning that it would be "ridiculous" to call Extinction Rebellion an organised crime group as they were "in the tradition of the suffragettes".

She faced criticism for her remarks from both Mr Raab and new Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey.

Police and fire services outside the Newsprinters printing works at Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, as protesters use bamboo lock-ons continue to block the road.
PA Wire/PA Images

The Foreign Secretary said: "I’m astounded at Diane Abbott’s remarks. The idea that it is right to damage property or intervene with a free press in the name of progressive protest is, I think, perverse.

“Actually, I think it is damaging to the cause of climate change.

“I respect the right of peaceful protest but hijacking that with a militant agenda to disrupt the very heart of democratic debate, which is through a free media, is just totally wrong and we’re against it, and I think law enforcement action should be taken to preserve our wider freedoms, and they do include a free media.”

Asked by Sophy RIdge if he agreed with Ms Abbott’s assessment that the demonstrations had been legitimate, Sir Ed said: “No … I think we need to bring the country together to realise we have a climate emergency alongside the Covid health and economic emergency.

“My concern with what we saw was that it actually divides people, it can undermine the message about the climate emergency. I fear that when you damage the free press in particular, that is shooting yourself in the foot.

“There was an interview with David Attenborough in one of those newspapers that didn’t get distributed – David Attenborough is the environmentalist par excellence, he has a lot to say about climate change and how we protect our environment.

“I think stopping people reading David Attenborough is not a good message.”

It comes after the protests – which targeted nine major UK newspapers, including the Evening Standard – were roundly criticised on Saturday.

​The presses also publish Rupert Murdoch's News Corp’s titles including The Sun, The Times, The Sun on Sunday and The Sunday Times, and The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, and the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday.

Newsprinters condemned the protests as an “attack on all of the free press” that affected workers' jobs and meant newsagents could face a "financial penalty".

The company said it had been able to print papers at other sites, but that some deliveries of The Sun, The Times, the Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph and the Financial Times would be delayed.

Ms Patel branded the demonstration an “attack on democracy”.

Extinction Rebellion protesters
Extinction Rebellion UK

She wrote on Twitter: “This morning people across the country will be prevented from reading their newspaper because of the actions of Extinction Rebellion.

“This attack on our free press, society and democracy is completely unacceptable.”

A Labour party spokesperson said: "A free press is vital for our democracy. People have the right to read the newspapers they want. Stopping them from being distributed and printers from doing their jobs is wrong.”

But Labour MP for Brent Central Dawn Butler posted a tweet supporting the group, which was later deleted.

The tweet read: "Bravo #ExtinctionRebellion....Excellent work...."

She told Times Radio: “I don’t really know what it is that is expected to be achieved and I know that for many older listeners it’s very much part of their daily life, getting their paper delivered in the morning and I just think it’s wrong.”

Robert Jenrick, the Housing Secretary, labelled the Extinction Rebellion protesters an “intolerant minority”.

Posting on Twitter, he said: “A free press matters to all of us who value a free society. They mustn’t be silenced by an intolerant minority.”

Meanwhile Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood told Times Radio that Extinction Rebellion had “lost sight of how to campaign”.

He added: “The Government has done much itself but obviously could do more and we need to work with the people to get that message across so we all can be more aware of the carbon footprint that we create.

“But what they’re doing here is to alienate more people. I fear the organisation itself has been hijacked.”

Extinction Rebellion said the blockade was "an escalation of our tactics".

Scottish members of the group said on their Twitter account: "We’ve moved on from general disruption to target the institutions that are causing and covering up the climate and ecological emergency. The time for change is now.”

With additional reporting by PA

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