Are you a peaceful protestor?

Mark 7 Comments

I was sent this email by the RSPB and it pointed me towards a petition set up by Friends of the Earth which I happily signed. The petition is important and I gladly signed it, but the process of signing it is a bit irritating and gives the impression, which may not be completely untrue, that the organisation (in this case FoE) is at least as interested in grabbing your details and money as securing your support for a cause. This is sadly common these days. It takes a few clicks to send a message to the government and then quite a while to disentangle yourself from the clutches of an NGO asking for your inside leg measurement, your preferred day of the week for being asked for money and the email address of your best friend.

But the issue is important as it goes to our right to protest peacefully.

Are you a peaceful protestor?

I am…

And I am glad to see the RSPB asking me to sign a petition of this sort, and with FoE’s name on its header. That’s very pleasing.

I haven’t seen much action from FoE on the #stateofnature petition https://bit.ly/3kjLIsX , just saying…

[registration_form]

7 Replies to “Are you a peaceful protestor?”

  1. Carsington HH day was at least on private grounds, however, the Walk for Wildlife would be unlikely to be repeated if Patel gets her way. It’s good to see the RSPB backing it, hopefully another sign of a firmer hand on the tiller.
    We have also heard of this petition from Greenpeace, 350.org and 38degrees.
    This government is making hay with its 80 majority and counting on people’s apathy allowing it to put the final nails in the coffin of democracy.
    Patel also now wants to introduce a FPTP system for the voting of mayors and police commissioners.
    Hancock is still refusing to publish Contract Finder notices causing The Good Law project to issue further proceedings against him.
    Without PR we will end up getting our star as the 53rd state.

    1. It is completely bonkers to suggest, as Patel has, that FPTP “provides for strong and clear local accountability” in mayoral elections in a way that a preference system does not. In a FPTP system it is perfectly possible – indeed likely – for a mayor to be elected against the preference of a majority of the voters and even if he/she is, legally speaking, elected to represent the entire electorate they inevitably feel more accountable to the minority that voted for them than to everybody else. In a preference voting system they are undoubtedly more accountable to the electorate as a whole – they cannot afford to serve only the narrow interests of their first choice voters. Patel’s aim is nothing to do with increasing local accountability and everything to do with trying to rig things in the favour of her party.

  2. Interesting – as a long standing RSPB supporter I’ve had no such email. Wonder how they decide who to ask to sign?

  3. I signed this FOE petition this morning curtesy of the RSPB. This whole thing from this Government to my mind is utterly disgraceful, very sinister and strikes at the heart of our democracy.
    Over and over again this Governments words mean absolutely nothing. Their actions on the other hand are without doubt terrible. They are always designed to please the Tory elite and their big donors. God help the rest of us, we won’t even be able to protest fairly soon.

Comments are closed.