Disruptive Proactivity

My blog is read by a number of Government types. If you are, and you were at any of the ukUncut demos, or Trafalgar Square, or the TUC march on 26th March, then from you I need a favour: spend the next 4 minutes reading the rest of this post. If you owe me a favour, consider every one of them called in.

2 years ago I was at the G20 Climate Camp in London. I was there when bits of the Climate Camp kettle were added. My iPhone got broken when I moved between a young girl trying to get back to her friends, and the policeman who was repeatedly smacking his riot shield into her head to “persuade” her otherwise. On day 2, I was kettled at a peaceful solidarity demo following the death of Ian Tomlinson. Amelia has photos from there; the police said publicly that there was no kettle. But that’s not the interesting bit of the story. Those who are active in any form of protest know that the press release to the media is often designed for soundbites rather than truth.

The interesting part of the story begins with happened when I left. I was required to be searched, relatively aggressively, and was asked various questions which I was required to answer in order to be allowed to leave. And one of those questions was “Where are you going?”.

“A meeting just off Whitehall” was my reply, leading to the slightly cautious question of “Who with?”. I didn’t explain what a teacamp was, but in an instant, it turned into the most courteous search possible (with the exception of not filling out any of the Section 44 paperwork, as they’d not written down any answers I’d given already).

I roll up to teacamp, and keep checking my (borrowed) phone for information on my still-kettled friends. While talking to various people I don’t know, someone in a suit assured me of the official line – there was no kettle, and people were free to leave. I gave them a rather passionate and slightly more detailed explanation of reality than they were expecting. Leaving them wondering why they believed officially the kettle didn’t exist. They worked in the Home Office.

Tweets from the ground, photos, video, are one thing; being told by someone you respect that the official record is misleading, is quite another. Who is it who respects you, and who has some remote influence here?

Climate protestors are used to the type of policing seen in Trafalgar Square; used to being dismissed as as “protestors” or “troublemakers” when kicked, beaten with batons, hit with riot shields; they are used to their message being ignored in the media, only to be portrayed as whatever the official Police spin says. But if you were there at any point, does what you saw match up with the official narrative you now hear?

If you have any credibility in any arena of Government, and you were on the TUC march and saw things done that should not have been, say something. It doesn’t need to be in public. What’s different about this march is that it was full of Union officials, civil servants, and people with some power. You.

Maybe the next time you’re meeting your friend from the HO, the police, or any other organisation, you could ask them whether they saw it happen, what the HO is internally saying about what you saw, or whether they saw it too. Your testimony to those who trust you is how you can help.

The Police are only violent when they know they can get away with it, and the people they beat never get believed when they say what happened. They know they wont get caught or punished for hitting a crying 19 year old girl with batons – officially: protestors are always violent and never tell the truth.

You can say what you saw. Because the truth is a lot more messy than that. Truth will take care of itself from there. It takes time, but it usually wins in the end. You can help.

[this post was written for Dominic Campbell - here's what he wrote as a result]