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‘Close to a police state’: campaign groups condemn UK report into protests

News Feed
Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Protest groups have condemned a long-awaited report on their activity that recommends a review of undercover surveillance of activists and making protest organisers pay towards policing.The 292-page report by John Woodcock, now Lord Walney, entitled Protecting Democracy from Coercion, calls for a curb on many activities, including a blanket ban on face coverings at protests and making it easier for businesses to claim damages from protesters who cause disruption.Questions remain over whether the report’s 41 recommendations will ever reach the statute books after both government and Labour sources declined to commit to any of its findings.Human rights organisations and environmental groups said the recommendations – which include a review of whether undercover surveillance is being used to police public order – will weaken democracy.Areeba Hamid, the co-director of Greenpeace, issued a warning about the implications of Woodcock’s proposals. “Applying the review’s recommendations would be a sure-fire way to weaken British democracy and bring us as close to becoming a police state as we’ve ever been,” she said.Shami Chakrabarti, the human rights lawyer and author, said: “There is nothing new or enlightened or helpful in the project of bringing people together in polarised times.”The much-previewed report’s findings also call for: Protest buffer zones around MPs’ constituency offices and local council chambers A change in the law to allow the police to consider the cumulative effect of protests on antisemitic hate crime levels The intimidation of candidates and campaigners to be specifically criminalised before the next election The lord chancellor and lord chief justice to review whether juries and judges are more lenient on protesters who support “progressive” causes such as fighting climate change and anti-racism The government to boost physical protection for private defence companies against protesters The intelligence services and relevant government departments to be given more resources to identify disinformation online and to work with technology companies to have it removed.The report stopped short of naming any specific organisation that should be banned, as the Guardian disclosed on Monday.But groups criticised within the body of the report said that Woodcock had abused parliamentary privilege by publishing it as a “motion for unopposed return”, ensuring that activists could not sue over its findings.The communities secretary, Michael Gove, hailed the proposals on Tuesday. Speaking in north London, he said the report was “brilliant” and that its recommendations were “far reaching and compelling”.Huda Ammori, of Palestine Action, an anti-arms trade group discussed extensively in the report, and who was named personally, accused Woodcock of “going on a defamation rampage, and using parliamentary privilege to cover it”.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionThe report showed Woodcock consulted with Elbit, an Israeli arms company whose UK operations have been subject to repeated direct action protests by Palestine Action. But some protesters named within the report said they were given no right of reply.Just Stop Oil, the climate campaign group, which Woodcock also mentioned at length, pointed to Woodcock’s work as a paid lobbyist for fossil fuel companies. “Just Stop Oil does not recognise the legitimacy of this report,” the body said.Woodcock told the Guardian he had maintained an objective standard and sought a wide range of views while writing the report.In a blow to restrictions on demonstrators, the high court on Tuesday ruled that the former home secretary Suella Braverman acted unlawfully in making it easier for the police to criminalise peaceful protests.She was found to have acted outside her powers and to have failed to consult properly over regulations that would be likely to increase prosecutions of protesters by a third.Hundreds of protesters have been arrested since the government redefined the type of protest that could be restricted by the police, allowing it where there is merely a “more than minor” hindrance to people’s daily lives.Those prosecuted included the climate activist Greta Thunberg, who was acquitted of all charges in a hearing in February.James Cleverly, the home secretary, said he would consider Woodcock’s recommendations.He said: “The right to protest is a vital part of democracy, but there is absolutely no place for criminality or harassment on our streets. Too often, we have seen vile displays of hate crime and aggressive tactics used by so-called protesters.“Lord Walney’s report raises important questions on the cumulative impact of disruptive and extremist activity on our communities. I thank Lord Walney and his team for this extensive and compelling report.”

Report calls for curb on many activities and recommends making protest organisers pay towards policingProtest groups have condemned a long-awaited report on their activity that recommends a review of undercover surveillance of activists and making protest organisers pay towards policing.The 292-page report by John Woodcock, now Lord Walney, entitled Protecting Democracy from Coercion, calls for a curb on many activities, including a blanket ban on face coverings at protests and making it easier for businesses to claim damages from protesters who cause disruption. Continue reading...

Protest groups have condemned a long-awaited report on their activity that recommends a review of undercover surveillance of activists and making protest organisers pay towards policing.

The 292-page report by John Woodcock, now Lord Walney, entitled Protecting Democracy from Coercion, calls for a curb on many activities, including a blanket ban on face coverings at protests and making it easier for businesses to claim damages from protesters who cause disruption.

Questions remain over whether the report’s 41 recommendations will ever reach the statute books after both government and Labour sources declined to commit to any of its findings.

Human rights organisations and environmental groups said the recommendations – which include a review of whether undercover surveillance is being used to police public order – will weaken democracy.

Areeba Hamid, the co-director of Greenpeace, issued a warning about the implications of Woodcock’s proposals. “Applying the review’s recommendations would be a sure-fire way to weaken British democracy and bring us as close to becoming a police state as we’ve ever been,” she said.

Shami Chakrabarti, the human rights lawyer and author, said: “There is nothing new or enlightened or helpful in the project of bringing people together in polarised times.”

The much-previewed report’s findings also call for:

Protest buffer zones around MPs’ constituency offices and local council chambers

A change in the law to allow the police to consider the cumulative effect of protests on antisemitic hate crime levels

The intimidation of candidates and campaigners to be specifically criminalised before the next election

The lord chancellor and lord chief justice to review whether juries and judges are more lenient on protesters who support “progressive” causes such as fighting climate change and anti-racism

The government to boost physical protection for private defence companies against protesters

The intelligence services and relevant government departments to be given more resources to identify disinformation online and to work with technology companies to have it removed.

The report stopped short of naming any specific organisation that should be banned, as the Guardian disclosed on Monday.

But groups criticised within the body of the report said that Woodcock had abused parliamentary privilege by publishing it as a “motion for unopposed return”, ensuring that activists could not sue over its findings.

The communities secretary, Michael Gove, hailed the proposals on Tuesday. Speaking in north London, he said the report was “brilliant” and that its recommendations were “far reaching and compelling”.

Huda Ammori, of Palestine Action, an anti-arms trade group discussed extensively in the report, and who was named personally, accused Woodcock of “going on a defamation rampage, and using parliamentary privilege to cover it”.

skip past newsletter promotion

after newsletter promotion

The report showed Woodcock consulted with Elbit, an Israeli arms company whose UK operations have been subject to repeated direct action protests by Palestine Action. But some protesters named within the report said they were given no right of reply.

Just Stop Oil, the climate campaign group, which Woodcock also mentioned at length, pointed to Woodcock’s work as a paid lobbyist for fossil fuel companies. “Just Stop Oil does not recognise the legitimacy of this report,” the body said.

Woodcock told the Guardian he had maintained an objective standard and sought a wide range of views while writing the report.

In a blow to restrictions on demonstrators, the high court on Tuesday ruled that the former home secretary Suella Braverman acted unlawfully in making it easier for the police to criminalise peaceful protests.

She was found to have acted outside her powers and to have failed to consult properly over regulations that would be likely to increase prosecutions of protesters by a third.

Hundreds of protesters have been arrested since the government redefined the type of protest that could be restricted by the police, allowing it where there is merely a “more than minor” hindrance to people’s daily lives.

Those prosecuted included the climate activist Greta Thunberg, who was acquitted of all charges in a hearing in February.

James Cleverly, the home secretary, said he would consider Woodcock’s recommendations.

He said: “The right to protest is a vital part of democracy, but there is absolutely no place for criminality or harassment on our streets. Too often, we have seen vile displays of hate crime and aggressive tactics used by so-called protesters.

“Lord Walney’s report raises important questions on the cumulative impact of disruptive and extremist activity on our communities. I thank Lord Walney and his team for this extensive and compelling report.”

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

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Buddhist Monks Persist in Peace Walk Despite Injuries as Thousands Follow Them on Social Media

A group of Buddhist monks is persevering in their peace walk across much of the U.S. even after two participants were injured when a truck hit their escort vehicle

ATLANTA (AP) — A group of Buddhist monks is persevering in their walking trek across much of the U.S. to promote peace, even after two of its members were injured when a truck hit their escort vehicle.After starting their walk in Fort Worth, Texas, on Oct. 26, the group of about two dozen monks has made it to Georgia as they continue on a path to Washington, D.C., highlighting Buddhism's long tradition of activism for peace.The group planned to walk its latest segment through Georgia on Tuesday from the town of Morrow to Decatur, on the eastern edge of Atlanta. Marking day 66 of the walk, the group invited the public to a Peace Gathering in Decatur Tuesday afternoon.The monks and their loyal dog Aloka are traveling through 10 states en route to Washington, D.C. In coming days, they plan to pass through or very close to Athens, Georgia; the North Carolina cities of Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh; and Richmond, Virginia, on their way to the nation’s capital city.The group has amassed a huge audience on social media, with more than 400,000 followers on Facebook. Aloka has its own hashtag, #AlokathePeaceDog.The group's Facebook page is frequently updated with progress reports, inspirational notes and poetry.“We do not walk alone. We walk together with every person whose heart has opened to peace, whose spirit has chosen kindness, whose daily life has become a garden where understanding grows," the group posted recently.The trek has not been without danger. Last month outside Houston, the monks were walking on the side of a highway near Dayton, Texas, when their escort vehicle, which had its hazard lights on, was hit by a truck, Dayton Interim Police Chief Shane Burleigh said.The truck “didn’t notice how slow the vehicle was going, tried to make an evasive maneuver to drive around the vehicle, and didn’t do it in time,” Burleigh said at the time. “It struck the escort vehicle in the rear left, pushed the escort into two of the monks.”One of the monks had “substantial leg injuries” and was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Houston, Burleigh said. The other monk with less serious injuries was taken by ambulance to another hospital in suburban Houston. The monk who sustained the serious leg injuries was expected to have a series of surgeries to heal a broken bone, but his prognosis for recovery was good, a spokeswoman for the group said.Buddhism is a religion and philosophy that evolved from the teachings of Gautama Buddha, a prince turned teacher who is believed to have lived in northern India and attained enlightenment between the 6th and 4th centuries B.C. The religion spread to other parts of Asia after his death and came to the West in the 20th century. The Buddha taught that the path to end suffering and become liberated from the cycle of birth, death and reincarnation, includes the practice of non-violence, mental discipline through meditation and showing compassion for all beings.While Buddhism has branched into a number of sects over the centuries, its rich tradition of peace activism continues. Its social teaching was pioneered by figures like the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh, who have applied core principles of compassion and non-violence to political, environmental and social justice as well as peace-building efforts around the world.Associated Press Writers Jeff Martin in Atlanta and Deepa Bharath in Los Angeles contributed.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See – December 2025

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Pension funds aren’t for playing politics

New York City’s outgoing comptroller is rebuffed in a ploy to drop BlackRock over climate concerns.

The job of pension fund managers is to maximize returns for retirees who depend on them. Yet activists have been surprisingly adept in years past at pushing funds to prioritize environmental activism over generating shareholder value. Brad Lander, soon to be New York City’s former comptroller, has used his final days in office to push that radical agenda at the expense of the people he is meant to serve.

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Brigitte Bardot: French screen legend and controversial activist dead at 91

The actress who rose to fame in 1956 with "And God Created Woman" later abandoned her film career to become a passionate and often polarizing animal rights advocate.

By THOMAS ADAMSON and ELAINE GANLEY, The Associated PressPARIS (AP) — Brigitte Bardot, the French 1960s sex symbol who became one of the greatest screen sirens of the 20th century and later a militant animal rights activist and far-right supporter, has died. She was 91.Bardot died Sunday at her home in southern France, according to Bruno Jacquelin, of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the protection of animals. Speaking to The Associated Press, he gave no cause of death and said that no arrangements had been made for funeral or memorial services. She had been hospitalized last month.Bardot became an international celebrity as a sexualized teen bride in the 1956 movie, “And God Created Woman.” Directed by then husband, Roger Vadim, it triggered a scandal with scenes of the long-legged beauty dancing on tables naked.At the height of a cinema career that spanned more than two dozen films and three marriages, Bardot came to symbolize a nation bursting out of bourgeois respectability. Her tousled, blond hair, voluptuous figure and pouty irreverence made her one of France’s best-known stars, even as she struggled with depression.Such was her widespread appeal that in 1969 her features were chosen to be the model for “Marianne,” the national emblem of France and the official Gallic seal. Bardot’s face appeared on statues, postage stamps and coins.‘’We are mourning a legend,’’ French President Emmanuel Macron said in an X post.Bardot’s second career as an animal rights activist was equally sensational. She traveled to the Arctic to blow the whistle on the slaughter of baby seals. She also condemned the use of animals in laboratory experiments, and she opposed Muslim slaughter rituals.“Man is an insatiable predator,” Bardot told The Associated Press on her 73rd birthday in 2007. “I don’t care about my past glory. That means nothing in the face of an animal that suffers, since it has no power, no words to defend itself.”Her activism earned her compatriots’ respect and, in 1985, she was awarded the Legion of Honor, the nation’s highest recognition.Turn to the far rightLater, however, she fell from public grace as her animal protection diatribes took on a decidedly extremist tone. She frequently decried the influx of immigrants into France, especially Muslims.She was convicted and fined five times in French courts of inciting racial hatred, in incidents inspired by her opposition to the Muslim practice of slaughtering sheep during annual religious holidays.Bardot’s 1992 marriage to fourth husband Bernard d’Ormale, a onetime adviser to far-right National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, contributed to her political shift. She described Le Pen, an outspoken nationalist with multiple racism convictions of his own, as a “lovely, intelligent man.”FILE - French actress Brigitte Bardot poses with a huge sombrero she brought back from Mexico, as she arrives at Orly Airport in Paris, France, on May 27, 1965. (AP Photo/File)APIn 2012, she supported the presidential bid of Marine Le Pen, who now leads her father’s renamed National Rally party. Le Pen paid homage Sunday to an “exceptional woman” who was “incredibly French.”In 2018, at the height of the #MeToo movement, Bardot said in an interview that most actors protesting sexual harassment in the film industry were “hypocritical,” because many played “the teases” with producers to land parts.She said she had never had been a victim of sexual harassment and found it “charming to be told that I was beautiful or that I had a nice little ass.”Privileged but ‘difficult’ upbringingBrigitte Anne-Marie Bardot was born Sept. 28, 1934, to a wealthy industrialist. A shy child, she studied classical ballet and was discovered by a family friend who put her on the cover of Elle magazine at age 14.Bardot once described her childhood as “difficult” and said that her father was a strict disciplinarian who would sometimes punish her with a horse whip.Vadim, a French movie produce who she married in 1952, saw her potential and wrote “And God Created Woman” to showcase her provocative sensuality, an explosive cocktail of childlike innocence and raw sexuality.The film, which portrayed Bardot as a teen who marries to escape an orphanage and then beds her brother-in-law, had a decisive influence on New Wave directors Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut, and came to embody the hedonism and sexual freedom of the 1960s.The film was a box-office hit, and it made Bardot a superstar. Her girlish pout, tiny waist and generous bust were often more appreciated than her talent.“It’s an embarrassment to have acted so badly,” Bardot said of her early films. “I suffered a lot in the beginning. I was really treated like someone less than nothing.”Bardot’s unabashed, off-screen love affair with co-star Jean-Louis Trintignant eradicated the boundaries between her public and private life and turned her into a hot prize for paparazzi.Bardot never adjusted to the limelight. She blamed the constant media attention for the suicide attempt that followed 10 months after the birth of her only child, Nicolas. Photographers had broken into her house two weeks before she gave birth to snap a picture of her pregnant.Nicolas’ father was Jacques Charrier, a French actor who she married in 1959 but who never felt comfortable in his role as Monsieur Bardot. Bardot soon gave up her son to his father, and later said she had been chronically depressed and unready for the duties of being a mother.“I was looking for roots then,” she said in an interview. “I had none to offer.”FILE - French Actress Brigitte Bardot with a dog in the Gennevilliers, Paris, while supporting the French animal protection society operation, Feb. 10, 1982. (AP Photo/Duclos, File)APIn her 1996 autobiography “Initiales B.B.,” she likened her pregnancy to “a tumor growing inside me,” and described Charrier as “temperamental and abusive.”Bardot married her third husband, West German millionaire playboy Gunther Sachs, in 1966, and they divorced three years later.Among her films were “A Parisian” (1957); “In Case of Misfortune,” in which she starred in 1958 with screen legend Jean Gabin; “The Truth” (1960); “Private Life” (1962); “A Ravishing Idiot” (1964); “Shalako” (1968); “Women” (1969); “The Bear And The Doll” (1970); “Rum Boulevard” (1971); and “Don Juan” (1973).With the exception of 1963’s critically acclaimed “Contempt,” directed by Godard, Bardot’s films were rarely complicated by plots. Often they were vehicles to display Bardot in scanty dresses or frolicking nude in the sun.“It was never a great passion of mine,” she said of filmmaking. “And it can be deadly sometimes. Marilyn (Monroe) perished because of it.”Bardot retired to her Riviera villa in St. Tropez at the age of 39 in 1973 after “The Woman Grabber.” As fans brought flowers to her home Sunday, the local St. Tropez administration called for “respect for the privacy of her family and the serenity of the places where she lived.”Middle-aged reinventionShe emerged a decade later with a new persona: An animal rights lobbyist, her face was wrinkled and her voice was deep following years of heavy smoking. She abandoned her jet-set life and sold off movie memorabilia and jewelry to create a foundation devoted exclusively to the prevention of animal cruelty.Depression sometimes dogged her, and she said that she attempted suicide again on her 49th birthday.Her activism knew no borders. She urged South Korea to ban the sale of dog meat and once wrote to U.S. President Bill Clinton asking why the U.S. Navy recaptured two dolphins it had released into the wild.She attacked centuries-old French and Italian sporting traditions including the Palio, a free-for-all horse race, and campaigned on behalf of wolves, rabbits, kittens and turtle doves.“It’s true that sometimes I get carried away, but when I see how slowly things move forward ... my distress takes over,” Bardot told the AP when asked about her racial hatred convictions and opposition to Muslim ritual slaughter,In 1997, several towns removed Bardot-inspired statues of Marianne after the actress voiced anti-immigrant sentiment. Also that year, she received death threats after calling for a ban on the sale of horse meat.Environmental campaigner Paul Watson, who was beaten on a seal hunt protest in Canada alongside Bardot in 1977 and campaigned with her for five decades, acknowledged that “many disagreed with Brigitte’s politics or some of her views.”FILE - French actress Brigitte Bardot poses in character from the motion picture "Voulez-Vous Danser Avec Moi" (Do you Want to Dance With Me), on Sept. 10, 1959. (AP Photo/File)AP“Her allegiance was not to the world of humans,” he said. “The animals of this world lost a wonderful friend today.”Bardot once said that she identified with the animals that she was trying to save.“I can understand hunted animals, because of the way I was treated,” Bardot said. “What happened to me was inhuman. I was constantly surrounded by the world press.”Elaine Ganley provided reporting for this story before her retirement. Angela Charlton contributed to this report.

Activism
Animals

12 Environmental Commentaries That Defined Our Year in 2025

These expert opinions address opportunities to make a difference — and point out a few of our failures. The post 12 Environmental Commentaries That Defined Our Year in 2025 appeared first on The Revelator.

Some of my favorite emails contain variations on an exciting phrase: “I’ve enclosed an op-ed for your consideration.” These messages — and their accompanying commentaries — come to us from environmental experts all over the world who have something important to say about saving life on this big blue marble we call home. Some of them offer roadmaps for improving our efforts to address problems like conservation, environmental injustice, or climate change. Others point out lesser-known threats we should do more to address. Many authors share personal insights and experiences that most readers would otherwise rarely encounter. Here are 12 of our favorite environmental commentaries of the past year, addressing Indigenous rights, coral reefs, activism, some iconic or lesser-known endangered species, and more: ‘Active Management’ Harms Forests — And It’s About to Get a Whole Lot Worse Birding’s Tragic Blind Spot Ghost Reefs of 2083: The Paleontology of Color (A Speculative ‘Fiction’) The Last Breath of the Himalayas: Can We Stop the Collapse? Nature Is ‘Not for Sale’ Palm Oil Continues to Plague Borneo’s Orangutans, Elephants, and Other Icons Rare Earth Metals Must Not Come at the Cost of Indigenous Rights Saving America’s National Parks and Forests Means Shaking Off the Rust of Inaction Saving the Ryukyu Rabbit Tick: The Posterchild of Parasite Conservation Trump’s Approach to Public Lands? Expanding the Extractive Economy and Declaring a War on Nature What Catastrophes Get Our Attention and Why It Matters Who Heals the Earth’s Healers? Ways to Avert Burnout for Environmental Advocates Truthfully, this list could have been twice as long — and it still wouldn’t have included every inspirational or intriguing expert opinion we published in 2025. I encourage you to scroll through our entire Ideas category, where you’ll find a few dozen more essays worth reading. (While you’re at it, keep going back into 2024 or earlier — most of our commentaries have a long shelf life and remain of interest for quite a while after they’re published.) Meanwhile, don’t forget that a different kind of commentary appears a couple of times a month in our newsletter: exclusive cartoons by Tom Toro. Here’s one of my favorites from the past year: Do you have a story to tell in the year ahead? We’re always open to op-eds and commentaries from activists, scientists, conservationists, legislators, government employees, and others — especially anyone with insight about the regressive and repressive second Trump administration. You can find out how to submit here, or drop me a line at any time. The post 12 Environmental Commentaries That Defined Our Year in 2025 appeared first on The Revelator.

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Sarah Burton obituary

My partner, Sarah Burton, who has died of cancer of the appendix aged 73, was a formidable legal and environmental activist. She held senior roles at Greenpeace UK, Greenpeace International and Amnesty International.She joined the law firm of Seifert Sedley in the late 1970s, after impressing them with her negotiating skills for the Seymour Place Co-operative, in London. During the 1980 Blair Peach inquest, Sarah secured a high court order stopping proceedings and requiring the coroner to sit with a jury. Continue reading...

My partner, Sarah Burton, who has died of cancer of the appendix aged 73, was a formidable legal and environmental activist. She held senior roles at Greenpeace UK, Greenpeace International and Amnesty International.She joined the law firm of Seifert Sedley in the late 1970s, after impressing them with her negotiating skills for the Seymour Place Co-operative, in London. During the 1980 Blair Peach inquest, Sarah secured a high court order stopping proceedings and requiring the coroner to sit with a jury.In the mid-80s, with her law partner Mike Seifert, she coordinated representation for thousands of striking miners and fought off countless injunctions. During the strike, she gave birth to her daughter, Hannah, receiving a large bouquet from Arthur Scargill.Born in New York to Henrietta (nee Berman), an accountant, and Irving Novak, a garment worker who owned his own business, Sarah went to Long Beach high school, Long Island. She moved to Britain in the early 70s, worked as a legal secretary, and took evening classes to become a solicitor; she qualified in 1980. She married Rick Burton in 1973 and they divorced amicably three years later, remaining friends.In 1990, Sarah joined Greenpeace UK as their first in-house lawyer. When British Nuclear Fuels obtained an injunction preventing Greenpeace UK from stopping BNFL dumping nuclear waste into the Irish Sea, Sarah advised that foreign activists – not bound by UK courts – could lawfully block BNFL’s wastepipe. She was right. She left in 2002 and became an independent consultant for a number of NGOs and charities; in 2006 she joined Amnesty International as campaign programme director.From 2009 to 2018 she managed senior programme staff at Greenpeace International, in Amsterdam. In 2009 she travelled to Sumatra, where illegal logging threatened a local community. When told to bring whatever she would take on a camping trip, she replied: “A hotel reservation?” Surrounded by armed soldiers, she asked the community whether they wanted to move or stay. They chose to stay, and she insisted Greenpeace stay with them. In time, the soldiers withdrew.Sarah retired in 2018 and we moved to Bridport, Dorset, in 2020, where she embraced painting and steel drumming. A founder of Lawyers for Nuclear Disarmament, she also served on the boards of Natural England, English Nature and the Public Law Project.Though known for her courage, Sarah was proudest of mentoring young women activists who went on to lead within Greenpeace and other NGOs. After 20 years together we celebrated our civil partnership in April.She is survived by me, her daughter, Hannah, and her brother, Milton.

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