[Onthebarricades] UK: Climate camp - protesters vs the police state

[Andy]

Climate camp has gone ahead in spite of scaremongering and injunctions.  Some highlights:
*  Hundreds have gathered for workshops and training at the camp itself, despite police intimidation
* On the second day, police were successfully expelled after rogue FIT agents attempted to enter the camp en masse.  Video here:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/378307.html
*  Protesters have staged lock-ons and direct actions at Farnborough private airport, XL Airways in Crawley, the Department of Transport in London and other sites

On the downside, protesters have faced massive police abuse reminiscent of totalitarian societies.  The police are basically showing that they have no respect for basic liberties and are a menace to freedom-loving people everywhere.  Lowlights include:
*  Massive abuse of terrorism laws to persecute protesters
*  Camera seized and photos deleted
*  Protester arrested for refusing to give details
*  Violent abuse of protesters, throwing people into cordon, separating parents from children, cordoning people who did not join the march
*  Police forcing a protest INSIDE the exclusion zone at Heathrow

Some low-lights of mainstream propaganda:
*  Police excuse their violent response by referring to "anarchists" and protest "veterans" who will use force if police "frustrate" them (so police are frustrating them why exactly? - notice how police expect to be able to squelch protests with impunity)
*  Why do the mainstream shirk from calling police tactics repressive, violent, fascistic, totalitarian, intolerant - instead settling for euphemisms such as "heavy handed" and "over zealous"?
*  Terrorism scaremongering is reaching new lows.  Apparently the control freaks want people to take disruption of airports or making work for police to be intolerable because they take resources away from stopping terrorism.  This is a poor excuse for treating protesters as terrorists!

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/378547.html

Climate Camper Arrested Under Terrorism Act 
Climate IMC | 17.08.2007 10:50 | Climate Camp 2007 | Climate Chaos | Repression 

Early this morning, 4 people made their way to Heathrow Airport to support a picket of drivers and warehouse workers at the cargo handler Nippon Express. The staff at the company walked out two days ago after the company once again refused to settle a pay and shifts dispute. 

When walking towards terminal 2, where the picket was taking place, a couple of police officers stopped the group and told them they were being 'detained' and searched under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000. According to the police this was because the people were 'on BAA property'. The grounds for initially stopping the group were that they 'matched the profiles of protesters at the climate camp' who were to 'cause possible disorder on BAA property'. 

Another 9 officers and one of the FIT team joined shortly. A student journalist who identified himself and was taking photos was told that 'under the terrorism act you have to give us your camera'. Reluctant to hand over the camera, the photographer was then grabbed by 4 officers and forced to hand it over. 

The police proceeded to delete images off the camera, before handing it back. They later denied all knowledge of this. Another one of the group refused to give his details while being searched under Section 44 and was arrested. He has been taken to West Draton police station. 
Climate IMC 

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/378527.html?c=on#comments
Friday 17th August: 16:30: Ten activists have occupied XL Airways offices in Crawley. One person is locked on inside the offices, a banner reads "Cheap Flights - Cheap Lives?" refering to links between the aviation industry and climate change, and XL's role in deporting people and children to the Congo on behalf of the home office. More updates on the ticker.

8.15am: At least ten climate change campaigners have blockaded the Department of Transport headquarters in London this morning. Several have superglued themselves to the revolving doors and other doors have been chained shut. Staff inside the Marsham Street building were seen giving thumbs up to the protestors who called themselves Climate Camp supporters. Two more protestors were on the porch roof with a banner reading "No Airport Expansion". Eventualy after around two hours the activists were removed and arrested. [See Press Release | Pictures | More Pics]

The camp has been having a lot of visitors throughout the day. The local scouts group came to learn about the camp for their environment badges and someone posted photos of yesterday's visit by the local primary school which will be demolished if the third runway is to go ahead. Many local Sipson residents also visited the camp this morning to express continued support and solidarity and exchange experiences.

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/378022.html

At 7am two independent groups of campaigners from the Camp for Climate Action stopped carbon-intensive private jets fom operating at two airports in the south east. Executive flights at Biggin Hill and Farnborough airports have been brought to a standstill by climate activists concerned at the huge growth in the use of private jets by business people. At Biggin Hill Airport the activists D-locked themselves to the gates of the airports. 10 people were then arrested. The blockade lasted for just under 4 hours.

24 people took part in the blockade at Farnborough Airport with 9 people locked onto lock-on devices across the access road. After an hour the aiport staff opened up an emergancy crash exit to allow the gathered business people in. Meanwhile protesters handed out leaflets to staff, passengers and locals. Jets were delayed and after 2 hours a second emergency exit was opened. By this point the police warned people they would be arrested and it was decided to return to the camp. Although no one was arrested, the police did seize lock-on devices.

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/378409.html

Business flights blockaded by climate activists 
Camp for Climate Action | 16.08.2007 09:04 | Climate Camp 2007 | Climate Chaos | Ecology | Social Struggles | London 

Two independent groups of campaigners from the Camp for Climate Action 
have this morning stopped carbon-intensive private jets fom operating at 
two airports in the south east. 



Executive flights at Biggin Hill and Farnborough airports have been 
brought to a standstill by climate activists concerned at the huge growth 
in the use of private jets by business people. The activists D-locked 
themselves to the gates of the airports. 

At a time of growing public concern at the climate impact of the aviation 
industry, business jets have escaped public scrutiny. The actions are 
intended to raise awareness of the true cost of this hidden aspect of air 
travel. 

Richard George, currently at Biggin Hill said, "The aviation industry 
would like us to think that all flights are being taken by hard-working 
families on their once-a-year holiday. We are here today to shine a light 
on the dark secret of aviation, namely the enormous growth in private jet 
use by the super-rich." 

The protesters added that the actions are focused only on the 
carbon-intensive nature of private business jets. George added, "While 
ordinary people are trying to reduce their carbon emissions, many business 
leaders insist on flying in the most carbon-intensive way possible: a jet 
all of their own." 

Another protester pointed out, "In the 21st century we have instant 
communications. Video-conferencing has been successfully used by the 
media, corporations and univerisities, yet fat-cats insist on being flown 
around the world in their own personal jets. The time for such wasteful 
use of energy is simply over." 

The blockades began at 6.30 AM and are ongoing. 

ENDS 

Media contacts at the action locations 
Biggin Hill: 07879 416694 
Farnborough: 07909 651093 

Media contacts for the Camp for Climate Action 
0777 286 1099 or 07858 177 178 

Notes to Editor 
1) According to The Economist, the average number of passengers on 
executive jets in Europe is two. 

2) Farnborough is the only airport in Europe for the exclusive use of 
business aircraft. They recently attempted to double the number of flights 
despite massive local opposition, although these plans were rejected last 
year. 

Day 2: Low-Impact Living At The Climate Camp
15-08-2007 23:16

 
Wednesday August 15th After an early alert - around 9am a large Forward Intelligence Team (FIT) skirted the East perimeter, with an even larger group of Climate Campers responding by blocking the FIT cameras view - the camp got off to a productive start:

After the site coordination meeting at 9:30am, the workshops kicked off, covering a wide range of topics including low-tech sanitation, nuclear power, climate change and global justice, decentralised energy, aviation and climate change, introduction to permaculture, and movement building. Read a report about the 'Wales LNG pipeline' workshop. Indymedia facilities are on-site, the entire campsite has wi-fi, powered by wind generators and solar arrays. Indymedia workshops have been going on since early morning, including open publishing, writing, reporting, and digital photography. The site is now wheelchair-accessible. Campers fitted up kitchens and installed a 'grey water' system, 4 wind generators provide power. New neighbourhoods, like the West Midlands neighbourhood are being built. [pics]

Climate activists from the US and New Zealand, including the Convergence for Climate Action, the US social forum, the East Coast USA climate camp, The Yes Men, The Earth First! Journal, Rising Tide, have sent empowering messages in solidarity [video 1 2].

At 4pm, about 80 people left camp to participate in a local march against the airport expansion, but were held up by police, penned in and lead toward the perimeter of the airport - almost into the area covered by the BAA injunction. On the way, the police decided to block the A4 to lead the pen across it. Two hours later, the group headed back to the camp in heavy rain. One person was arrested for 'obstructing a police officer' (a FIT photographer) [report 1, 2, 3 | pics 1, 2]. More info on the ticker.

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/378349.html

Police force climate camp march to Heathrow airport and block A4... 
info from camp | 15.08.2007 20:47 | Climate Camp 2007 | Climate Chaos | London 

Just a quick report to say that today a small march of around 80 people left from the climate camp to support a local demonstration against heathrow expansion. They were very quickly surrounded by over one hundred police - having just left the camp this happened in what could be called a side street - then quite inexplicably the police forced the group down several streets towards the airport. Still penned in on all side by police, they were then forced across the main A4 road (which police closed for some time before forcing the people across it) and then right up to the security fence of Heathrow where they were held for over one hour. 


Several eye witnesses have described how police were very heavy handed from the outset, throwing people who said they did not want to join the march into their cordon. Parents were seperated from children as police officers literally threw people into the crowd who were surrounded. Five people I've spoken to said that they would not engage in any discussion and were screaming at people and even making jibes such as 'you have no rights here' before roughly shoving people into the penned in crowd. 

Many people pointed out that the mainstream media were there filming, but they suspect that the whole incident may be portreyed as 'the protestors disrupting air travellers' or 'police foil attempt to block heathrow' or 'protestors cause traffic chaos'. 

Let's see... 

As to the protest by local campaigners, no one ever found it... 


info from camp 


Tuesday, August 14. After two days of setting up, the 2007 Camp For Climate Action is now open. After a press conference and an opening meeting, the first round of workshops took place in a field between Sipson and Harlington near Heathrow airport. Listen to the audio from a couple of workshops that were given today by Mark Lynas and Airportwatch/Hacan. Meanwhile, in Heathrow terminal 4, an invisible theatre pointed out that climate related apocalypse is nigh.

The evening saw a brief police incursion. Around 7.30pm, approximately thirty police, backed by officers in riot gear, entered the camp without warning in an attempt to raid it. With their hands in the air, protesters formed a human barrier and blocked the police, before peacefully escorting them off the site [video | report 1, 2 | pics]. A woman superglued herself to the gate to prevent police enforcement [pics, video]. At 8.30pm, all was quiet.

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/378262.html

Climate Camp Tuesday 14th - Personal Report 
happy camping | 15.08.2007 00:43 | Climate Camp 2007 | Climate Chaos | London 

Today was the first public day of the Camp for Climate Action just outside Heathrow. It also saw the early morning arival of some high winds and heavy rain. Undeterred more people have been arriving at the site throughout the day, with police stop and searches being at a much reduced level. 


At lunchtime a press conference was held outside the main marquee at the camp, attended by a wide range of mainstream media both from the uk and other countries. 

Several campers spoke at the press conference declaring the camp open for a week of learning about climate change, the science and politics behind it and possible solutions to it. 

Time was also taken to denounce yesterday's Evening Standard article which claimed people from the camp were intending to send hoax suspicious packages to Heathrow as downright lies. They said the camp expects to have critical coverage and to be challenged in the media, especially as the camp has become such a large story, but they said that such blatant lies as featured in the Evening Standard are not acceptable. They also said that a complaint was being lodged with the Press Complaints Commission. 

The press conference then went on to answer questions from the assemled media in front of the cameras. 

Many of the questions centred on the day of action planned for Sunday / Monday and in particular reports that people from the camp were asking protestors to bring, or come wearing, suits or cabin crew uniforms. In response to this it was explained that there was indeed a group making cabin crew uniforms, but these were of a theatrical nature for use by a theatre group more akin to can can dancers who were planning on singing songs and dancing to make their protest! 

Time and time again it was stressed that the protests and actions on sunday are not to target passengers, but the corporations and government who are the real climate criminals, and that any action would be safe and peaceful and not target the runways. 

Later in the afternoon the main welcome meeting of the camp took place with over 250 people sat in a giant circle inside the main marquee. The meeting ran through all the introductory talks for the camp, including how the camp is split into neighbourhoods with their own kitchens, how decisions are made, how to use the compost toilets, how to get involved and all the plethora of info that's needed to navigate your way through the temporary eco-village for the coming week. 

Following the welcome meeting the first set of workshops took place including "Two Degree Timebomb" by Mark Lynas and "Aviation: The Need to Stop Expansion" with people from Airportwatch and local group HACAN. There were also practical workshops aimed at making the camp run more smoothly with sessions on facilitation and consensus decision making as well as several other workshops. 

There was also many day visitors to the camp including local councillors who this afternoon were treated to a guided tour that took in the compost toilets and an impromptu workshop on grey water recylcling systems (several of which are being built for the kitchens onsite). 

Generally the camp is working well. Lots of people who have never been involved with this kind of campaigning have pitched in and started helping out with most of the major jobs that need doing to run the site getting done through people just volunteering to do whatever needs doing. And the food so far has been excellent. 

Despite the spell of terrible weather and the police obstruction in the set up phase the camp is well and truly underway. 

Later in the evening there was an incident with police coming onto the camp site in a tight phalanx of 25plus which resulted in a large crowd of campers obstructing their progress, holding their hands in the air chanting "Police Out!" - as people slowly pushed the police back they lashed out at those at the front. 

They withdrew to just outside the rope barrier which marks the edge of the campsite in the field as people cheered. At the same time riot police in full gear with helmets arrived quickly at the western gate into the field that the camp is on, and a woman from the camp superglued her hands to the gate in an effort to prevent them entering the site - in her own words attempting to "de-escalate the situation". Mainstream media where no where to be seen, their outside broadcast trucks that have been present for several days having moved from the road outside the camp. 

There was a short standoff as police blocked all access to the lane that leads to the camp, even preventing members of the press heading to the camp to cover the incident. Access was re-opened just as the woman was removed from the gate and senior police officers had entered the camp for an escorted tour around site where they reportedly said the incursion was not sanctioned by them. 

Most people I spoke to said the incident was a blatant attempt by sections of the police to provoke a reaction, to incite some trouble. It didn't work. 

Climate Camp prepares for opening
13-08-2007 23:34

 
Monday, August 13. More than 300 people continued to set up this years Camp For Climate Action in a field between Sipson and Harlington near Heathrow airport to prepare for a week of "low impact living and high impact direct action". After BAAs failed injunction, the authorities tried to make this as difficult as possible using anti-terrorist legislation. Climate campers and local residents responded with resourcefulness and determination [rap | pics 1, 2].

Some police entered the site at 7.30 am. Soon, each of them was accompanied by people from the legal support team acting as minders. The police blocked the only road to the camp at both ends and searched and filmed arriving campers. Resulting traffic jams affected both campers and residents. Until late afternoon, vehicles were not allowed on site. The police installed a large tele microphone at the gate and erected floodlights, so that the camp is lit at night.

"Food and sanitation supplies were halted - everything had to be unloaded at the roadblock and carried or dragged to the site - half a mile away. Families - kids crying at the roadside - were forced to abandon their vehicles and carry their possessions, often in several trips, to the camp".

Nevertheless, the camp is taking shape. People pulled together to get equipment off cars, into wheelbarrows and wheelie bins and into the camp. Large numbers of corporate journalists parked outside the camp were watching. Airportwatch has a list of media coverage. Local residents, many of whom are opposed to the Heathrow airport extension, offered food and drinks to stranded campers, or help in transporting goods to the camp.

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/378101.html

Sunday, August 12. Late Saturday night, a field close to Heathrow airport site was occupied by about 100 people, the first wave of setting up the 2007 Camp For Climate Action [pics]. Twin double decker tripods were quickly erected and despite being just 800 metres from BAA's head office, it took the police two hours to find the site. There have been reports of two arrests and police copying data from mobile phones during searches.

There are now several hundred people on site and the camp taking shape. Police have been searching people and preventing access to the site on and off but in the last few hours this seems to have solidified into a state of siege with police refusing to let vehicles with power, water or toilet facilities onto the site.

Meanwhile, local residents celebrated "the place we call home" in the community arts and history project "our place".

The following information is copied from the climatecamp.org.uk website: 
The Climate Camp site has been successfully taken!

We now need lots of people to come down and get everything set up.

We are on Sipson Lane, between the villages of Sipson and Harlington, North of Heathrow.

By public transport:

Train from Paddington to 'Hayes and Harlington' station.

>From there bus 90, 140 or H98 heading South. Get off at the corner of Harlington High Street and walk West along Sipson Lane about 600 metres.

OR

About a 2 mile walk - south into Harlington village then as above.

OR

Go one station further on to West Drayton and take the 222 bus to the Western (Sipson) end of Sipson Lane.

Location Map

Staines is quite far away - if you want to make your own way to the site don't go to Staines!

But if you get yourself to Staines railway station in West London by 10am on Tuesday 14th August, you will be greeted by our friendly welcome team and promptly transported via a magical mystery tour, to the camp! Staines railway station is very small so the Welcome Desk and pickup buses will be running from Spelthorne Leisure Centre, 5 minutes walk from the station.(There will also be lifts to the camp later in the day).

If you get lost trying to find the camp or any other enquiries then call 0207 3779088 . There will be someone manning the phone at the London Action Resource Centre 10am to 6pm from 2nd August who will be able to help you.

There will probably be policeman filming you at the station and elsewhere. Do not be intimidated

imc uk 


http://www.guardian.co.uk/airlines/story/0,,2148873,00.html

Rules, rotas and revolutionary song at climate action camp


Helen Pidd
Wednesday August 15, 2007
The Guardian 


For a gathering founded on anarchist principles, the Camp for Climate Action doesn't half have a lot of rules. "Wash your hands before meals" is chalked on the site notice board, while capital letters denote the importance of using the correct compost toilet for solids and liquids. 
And woe betide any journalist who manages to shake off their chaperone and leave the carefully marked path. The activists here have allocated one hour a day when journalists are allowed on site, accompanied by a media-literate camper; yesterday the Guardian was introduced to Hamish Campbell, a 42-year-old film-maker. He explained why even anarchists follow rules sometimes, and showed us the site's own wind turbine and solar panels. 

We lost Hamish after getting distracted by the stereo system in the West Midlands social tent, where a cheeky song called Revolution for Sale by a band named The Propaganda and Information Network was banging out of the speakers. 

We got told off, and after promising to behave gained a new companion, a care worker called Jessica Alba. She was not fazed by the prospect of a week without showers and was keen to point out the damaging effects of most chemical-laden cosmetics. 

At a press conference on site yesterday the activists hinted what form the direct action at Heathrow might take. They would not rule out action in the terminals, they said, and they confirmed that they had asked campers to bring suits and smart clothes and even improvised air steward uniforms - for a can-can performance. 

"Perhaps we will be occupying the headquarters of a big corporation such as BAA," said a spokesman. Later, a brief stand-off between protesters and police ensued after 40 officers patrolling the camp met with some opposition. The incident was quickly defused. 

The camp is split into neighbourhoods representing geographical areas, each with its own meeting and kitchen tents. Ms Alba was bunking in with the north-west gang, which was hoping for culinary superiority because, rumour had it, one activist from Lancaster was a professionally trained chef. As he had yet to show his face yesterday, it was up to the volunteers on the cooking rota to rustle up meals from the organic vegan ingredients. 

>From the look of the supply wheelbarrow fusilli would be appearing regularly on the menu. 

Some activists had brought their children along. Though the gloomy looks on some of the youngsters' faces suggested they would rather be at Centre Parcs, the parents insisted you were never too young to worry about climate chaos. 

Wayne Taylor, a 41-year-old probation officer from Birmingham, had Evan, five, and a Teenage Mutant Hero Turtle in tow. Evan, a big Doctor Who fan, was hoping to make a "protest K9". Wayne was just hoping Evan would not refuse to eat the food. "If he had his way it would be toast and jam, toast and jam, toast and jam."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2149499,00.html

Climate protester denies obstructing police 
A protester from the Camp for Climate Action at Heathrow airport appeared in court yesterday after Supergluing herself to a gate at the camp. Veteran activist Penny Eastwood, 52, from Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire, denied obstructing a police officer when she appeared before Uxbridge magistrates. Ms Eastwood, who works as a project manager for the environmental charity Treesponsibility, delivered an impromptu lecture on the dangers of climate change while police freed her. She was protesting about the police presence on the site. The case was adjourned until October. 
Helen Pidd 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/aug/16/climatechange.uknews

Police: Heathrow camp 'infiltrated by anarchists'
  a.. Matthew Weaver and agencies 
  b.. Guardian Unlimited 
  c.. Thursday August 16 2007 
Police today defended their tactics and large presence at the environmental protest camp outside Heathrow airport by claiming it had been infiltrated by anarchist troublemakers.

Officers at the Camp for Climate Action outnumber the 600 protesters by two to one. 

Protesters have accused police of adopting a heavy-handed approach to control the demonstration and the unjustified use of anti-terrorist laws against protesters.

However, commander Jo Kaye, of the Metropolitan police, today said some of the protesters were "anarchists" who wanted to use the cover of an environmental protest to confront officers.

He claimed veterans of clashes at G8 protests, Reclaim the Streets demonstrations and anti-capitalist May Day marches were among those who had joined the camp.

"Some of these people have Reclaim the Streets heritage. Some of them will go back to the days of the Liverpool dockers march, not necessarily involved, but linked to it," Mr Kaye said.

"If we frustrate them, then they will go in for confrontation because their aim is anti-state.

"The environment is part of that, but we are talking about anarchists, so the cause assists their overall cause." 

Twenty-one people have so far been arrested in connection with Operation Hargood, the police response to the camp, officers said.

Assistant commissioner Tarique Ghaffur said 1,200 officers were policing the protest every 24 hours, adding: "This is far more than we would like and we would want to. 

"The only reason we have done that is because they have threatened direct action . we know the types of targets these people will go for, and there are many in Heathrow and the surrounding areas."

Mr Ghaffur said there had been "very little cooperation" from organisers during "limited dialogue" between them and police.

He said police feared the extreme elements could "suck in" otherwise peaceful protesters, and said any attempt to disrupt the airport could be dangerous because of the high terror alert level in place.

Penny Eastwood, a spokeswoman for the camp, said: "Many of the people here have been on protests before. The police have labelled all those as dangerous extremists."

Ms Eastwood, who was arrested when she Superglued herself to a gate at the camp earlier this week, said officers were "trying to smear us as irresponsible". 

"I don't think I'm irresponsible - I'm trying to save the planet from devastating climate change," she added. "There is a long tradition of civil disobedience in this country."

Earlier today, 11 climate change protesters were arrested at Biggin Hill airport, in Kent, after they chained themselves to the entrance and blocked the road to the airport.

A similar protest was mounted at Farnborough airport, but ended peacefully without any arrests.

Both demonstrations, aimed highlighting the "obscenity" of private jets, were part of a week-long campaign against the aviation industry.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/aug/16/theairlineindustry.transportintheuk

Chained airport protesters arrested
  a.. Matthew Weaver and agencies 
Climate change protesters who caused disruption at Biggin Hill airport in Kent this morning by chaining themselves to a gate have been arrested.

Three protesters attached themselves to the main gate at Biggin Hill, while others lay across the airport's only entrance road with their arms chained together inside fluorescent yellow tubes.

The protesters claimed to have prevented some passengers and staff from entering the airport. But a spokesman for Biggin Hill said the airport remained open and services were operating as normal.

Chief Inspector Mick Dod from the Metropolitan Police's territorial support group said 11 protesters had been arrested.

"We asked them to go and they have declined. They have been arrested under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act," he said.

Protests were also being staged this morning at Farnborough airport in Hampshire, as part of a week-long campaign against the aviation industry.

Protesters spread themselves across the entrance road to the airport, but it was operating as normal.

Both Farnborough and Biggin Hill airports specialise in business flights for small private jets.

Today's protests are designed not to alienate ordinary passengers but to highlight the "obscenity" of private jets, according to the campaigners.

Leo Murray, from Plane Stupid, one of campaigners banned from taking part in direct action at this week's protest camp at Heathrow, said today's action was aimed at the "super rich".

"Flying by personal jet is an obscene choice to make. But as long as we have celebrity driven culture, that's what people aspire to," he said.

Richard George, 26, a spokesman for Biggin Hill protesters, said a number of airport workers and passengers had been turned away.

He said people with their own planes were "putting two fingers up to attempts by the rest of us who try to cut our carbon emissions".

Another protester, who did not give her name, said: "As well as other kinds of negotiation, we feel direct action is necessary."

Mr George stressed that the group had no plans to prevent passengers flying out of Heathrow at the weekend.

"This is not the sort of thing that will be happening at Heathrow. We have no intention of shutting down Heathrow. That is a very different situation," he said.

A spokesman for Biggin Hill said: "Passengers are being diverted to a different entrance and there is no disruption to services which are operating as usual."

James Brown, a spokesman for the protesters at Farnborough, said 24 people blockaded the gate from 6.45am to 9.15am.

He said the demonstration was called off when the airport opened other gates, leaving their protest ineffective.

"Flights from this airport are all business flights and we have a system of economic growth that continues to grow and the concept of green capitalism is nonsense," Mr Brown said.

Earlier, the chief executive of Farnborough airport, Brandon O'Reilly, said: "We have about 10 or 11 chaps lying on the ground in front of one of the security gates but the airport is operating normally.

"It's a peaceful protest. The police are here and there is no trouble."

The protests came as the jet charter company Twinjet said there had been a 15% increase in first-time private jet bookings this week.

"Fear of disruption from this climate camp protest has led to some Heathrow travellers turning to our services," the company's managing director, John Keeble, said.

"Heathrow's recent problems have already been good for our business, but this protest and the threat of disruption appears to be the final straw."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/aug/17/climatechange.theairlineindustry

Heathrow protesters glue themselves to government building
  a.. James Sturcke and agencies 
  b.. Guardian Unlimited 
  c.. Friday August 17 2007 
Demonstrators from the Heathrow Camp for Climate Action today glued themselves to the Department of Transport in the latest action to highlight their protest against the airport.

Around 11 protesters arrived at the building in Horseferry Road, central London, at around 8.15am. 

Six superglued their hands to its rotating doors, police said, while another two climbed on top of them with a banner protesting against airport expansion. A further three chained themselves to the doors.

Police and paramedics arrived on the scene shortly afterwards and released the protesters from the doors. 

"You will see we are all quite young. We are the people who will have to deal with the consequences of climate change," Miko Minio, a 26-year-old who had been at the Heathrow camp since Saturday, said.

A police spokesman said a number of arrests had been made for suspected public order offences, adding that "normality would be returned" to the area.

Yesterday, 10 protesters were arrested when they locked themselves to airport gates at Biggin Hill, in Kent, and Farnborough, in Hampshire. Both airports specialise in business flights.

The week-long camp is due to end on Sunday, when authorities fear protesters may carry out direct action protests at Heathrow.

Mark Bullock, the airport's managing director, said he was disturbed by reports that protesters would bring bags so they could leave them at the airport - an action likely to trigger widespread security alerts. 

Other protesters were reported to be planning to disguise themselves as businessmen to gain access to aviation company offices or infiltrate parts of Heathrow reserved for executive travellers.

The Metropolitan police assistant commissioner, Tarique Ghaffur, said 1,200 officers were being used to police the protest around the clock.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/airlines/story/0,,2150741,00.html

Turbulent times


Lambasted by passengers, besieged by eco-protesters, and under fire from nearby residents fighting to save their homes - Heathrow has become Britain's 'nuisance airport'. John Harris reports 

Friday August 17, 2007
The Guardian 



On a single-track lane that runs along one side of the Camp For Climate Action, there's a creeping air of tension. In addition to the camera crews and journalists, clumps of police vehicles are parked up, and small groups of officers are keeping watch over the site - among them a police photographer, who trains a foot-long lens along the tents and marquees on the other side of a low fence. As he snaps away, a wizened-looking climate camper attempts to block his view with a huge white banner. Meanwhile, a group of drummers bash out what may or may not be a samba rhythm - an example, says one protester, of a tried-and-tested technique known as "tactical frivolity".

The camp - located on land that may eventually be cleared for a third Heathrow runway - formally opened on Tuesday, beginning a week of activity that will reach a peak this Sunday with a day of direct action aimed at BAA, the airport's owners. On the face of it, the campers' point is simple enough: that if we're serious about scaling down our emissions of greenhouse gases, the people who own and run airports will have to abandon any plans for expansion and drastically scale them down. Friends of the Earth says that Heathrow contributes a third of the UK's aviation emissions, and flights from the airport pump as much CO2 into the atmosphere as five million cars, every year. (Environmentalists claim Heathrow's carbon output is 13.9m tonnes; BAA says it is 266,000 tonnes.) 
But protest is only one part of the exercise. To quote from the pamphlet handed to everyone who turns up, the camp is also meant to be "an amazing living experiment": a temporary microcosm of the ideal society, brought to a damp field in Middlesex. 

Look around, and you quickly get the idea. Decisions are taken consensually at daily meetings. Campers can borrow two-wheeled transport from a "bike library". There are methodically built compost toilets and a recycling system so thorough that it almost beggars belief. And campers can also make the most of scores of workshops, running from the straightforward ("Climate Change For Beginners") to the arcane ("Social Ecology: the future of anarchism"). 

The day I arrive, there is a lot of talk about an incident that happened on Tuesday night. At around 7.30pm, the camp's organisers claim that 25 or so police - members, they say, of a surveillance squad called the Forward Intelligence Team - attempted a "raid", trying to march into the camp until they were surrounded by campers and non-aggressively "escorted" from the site. While all this went on, several vans of riot police stood watch. At the camp, this short-lived flashpoint seemed to come as a surprise, though it fits neatly with the narrative that has been established in some of the more excitable parts of the media, based around the supposed arrival of "hardcore" elements and Sunday's day of action that will "paralyse" the airport. To borrow from the Kaiser Chiefs, Sky predicts a riot. 

With the proviso that the Climate Camp is sworn to non-violence, exactly what will actually happen is unclear. Alex Harvey, a 28 -year-old graduate student who acts as my "escort", sticks to the camp's official line, whereby any talk about action on the runways is unequivocally rejected, but there can be no guarantees beyond that. She insists that recent rumours about hoax bomb calls to the airport are false. That said, she claims that the camp is "much more likely" to aim its actions at the nearby offices of BAA, Heathrow's owners. "We keep saying that," she says, "and no one's hearing us." 

Twenty-four hours before, I begin my day in very different surroundings, waiting for the bus that runs between Heathrow's main hotels and its four terminals, and talking to Derek and Anne Hodge. Having flown in yesterday from Sydney and spent the night at one of the airport's three Holiday Inns, they are en route to Cork, then Southampton, and then for a final fortnight in Spain. They are ex-pats who relocated to Australia 22 years ago; with their golf clubs and pile of upmarket luggage, they have the comfortable air of people whose retirement has turned out very nicely indeed. 

Before they set off, however, their nerves were jangled by news from the old world. On news bulletins on their adopted country's Channel 10, they tell me, warnings have recently been sounded about the decline of Britain's biggest airport, and the camp that has pitched up close by. "The report was on TV the day before we left," says Anne. "They said Heathrow was the worst airport in the world, and using it was more stressful than a divorce." 

And how has it been for them? "It wasn't bad yesterday," says her husband. "But it isn't half grubby. It really does look dirty. If you compare it with other airports - Sydney, say, or Bangkok - it's really not very good. When you come here, being British by birth, you really do think, 'I'd like to be prouder of this.'" 

And the camp? "Oh, that's absolutely stupid," says Anne. "I've seen An Inconvenient Truth, but I think the weather's probably always been cyclical. Then again, when we've been getting ready to fly, I suppose I have thought, 'Should I do this?' But living in Australia, what can we do?" Her husband emits a muted grumble, tells me his politics place him "to the right of Margaret Thatcher" and suggests that the camp is the stamping ground of "lefty teachers". 

Having picked us up from the hotel, the bus wends its way through a crowded landscape, all box-like architecture and towering adverts. According to an incongruous alliance of people who have been recently raising their voices, these 4.6 square miles are now among the most unpleasant places in Britain. The Mayor of London Ken Livingstone recently claimed that Heathrow "shames London" and offers "appalling conditions" in which passengers are effectively kept prisoner in a "ghastly shopping mall". Sir Terence Conran thinks the airport has become a "really horrible place". One government minister - Kitty Ussher, who sees to the affairs of the City of London - has talked about the airport's negative impact on the high-flying international financiers on whom we are so often told our national wellbeing depends: a matter, she says, of problems with security, passport control and a mind-bending layout that amounts to "Heathrow hassle". 

The essential problem, according to some people, is the domination of the UK's airports by BAA - once known as the British Airports Authority, privatised in 1987, now owned by the giant Spanish corporation Ferrovial, and accused of behaving with all the arrogance of the archetypal private monopoly. In March, the Office Of Fair Trading referred BAA to the Competition Commission; as the latter puts its report together, plenty of voices have been claiming that Heathrow should be taken out of BAA's portfolio. 

The past few weeks, meanwhile, have seen events - thanks to ubiquitous media coverage, now bundled up into one of the biggest stories of the summer - that have only worsened Heathrow's troubles. In early August, having got wind of the camp's imminent arrival, BAA applied for a surreally wide-ranging injunction, focused on banning protest from an area far wider than the airport - including platforms at Paddington Station and certain junctions on the M4 - and preventing organisations including Airport Watch, an umbrella group that includes such well-known revolutionary groups as the Woodland Trust and the RSPB from protesting. Any half-decent PR adviser would surely have predicted the result: BAA received acres of bad press, and the camp was propelled into the national consciousness. And then, the high court granted an altogether more limited injunction than BAA was after, and, with an air of jubilation, the camp's organisers said that their plans remained unchanged. 

They pitched up on land that may eventually be concreted over by a runway that would increase the airport's annual flight numbers from 480,000 to more than 700,000. Largely populated by young enragés, the camp is also buoyed by the quiet support of rather older local people, many of whom have spent decades watching Heathrow eat into the surrounding landscape. These days, they tend to mention one place more than any other: Sipson, the village that a third runway would wipe from the map. 

Leaving aside the eco-protesters, there are not many lines to be drawn between Heathrow's local opponents and the politicians and business leaders - and passengers - who bemoan its currently shabby state. After all, the former want any plans for Heathrow's expansion to be abandoned, while many of the latter think its refurbishment and growth should only be accelerated. 

Underlying both their arguments, however, is Heathrow's essential problem. It boils down to this: why is one of the world's busiest airports and its surrounding netherworld located 15 miles from London, on a site chosen during the second world war, now boxed in by housing, and expanded and altered over 60 years with precious little strategic vision? You only need travel abroad to grasp what's wrong: while so many of the world's airports now offer acres of space, futuristic flash and carefully designed passenger comfort, Heathrow has the distinct air of a project made up as people went along. It is, in effect, a very British botch-up. 

Once I've been dropped off at terminal three, my morning-long tour of Heathrow begins in a room known as the "Star Centre", where banks of plasma screens flash up CCTV pictures of every corner of the airport. This morning, particular attention is being paid to the tunnel that takes 55,000 cars a day between the terminals, and rumours about a possible disruptive action involving a gang of cyclists who are reported to have just set off from London (as it turns out, they don't show up). In between explaining his job, Greg Ward, Heathrow's burly operations director, issues the odd dismissive aside about what he calls "Camp Climate", while a WPC seconded here in case of early trouble from protesters ("I'm not allowed to talk to you," she says) splits her time between filling in a logbook and reading a paperback novel called Double Jeopardy. 

Twenty minutes later, I am sitting in a compact corporate meeting room with Mark Bullock, the managing director of BAA's Heathrow operation, promoted last month to being its public face after the departure of its chief executive Tony Douglas, who was last heard claiming that Heathrow was "bursting at the seams". 

The past few months, I suggest, must have been trying, to say the least. "What I know is, I inherited - if I can use that phrase - an airport that's handling 68 million passengers, and it was designed for 45 million," he says. "We've got the two busiest runways in the world. So it's always going to be difficult to manage an operation like that. There are so many external events that can influence the performance of the airport. When you're operating at capacity, it only takes an incident from the outside - the kind of thing that will force a change in security measures - and the ability of the airport to cope with that is quite stressed." 

Bullock says that Heathrow "isn't fixed, but it's moving in the right direction". (At BAA's HQ, tea is served in "Making Heathrow Great" mugs.) Like many of his colleagues, he claims that queues to pass through security checks now take no longer than 10 minutes - and bemoans the tendency of Heathrow's detractors to blame problems at check-in, passport control and baggage reclaim on BAA, when they are the chief responsibility of airlines and, in the latter case, the government's Border and Immigration Agency. 

When it comes to the camp, he says that he "cannot countenance direct action that would seriously disrupt one and a half million people". He defends the attempted injunction as an example of BAA doing "everything in its power" to stop just that eventuality. But didn't its surreally wide terms hand the protesters a PR gift? "The injunction needed to be quite widely worded," he says, "because these people don't stand up and say, 'I'm one of the people who's going to take direct action.' You can't pin them down." 

Eventually, we get on to the subject of the third runway. An idea that was first mooted in the 1940s, it was decisively placed on the agenda in late 2003, when the government announced its support for new runways at Heathrow and Stansted (and, just to really inflame environmentalists, Birmingham and Edinburgh). A consultation process will begin next month; a public inquiry is expected to start in 2008. As late as 2001, BAA claimed that it "would urge the government to rule out any additional runway at Heathrow", though it has now done a volte-face and decided to support the plan, which has only heightened local anger. 

"It's very difficult, isn't it?" says Bullock. "You've got to sympathise with people whose homes are in that area, which if it goes ahead, will be under a runway. That's why the consultation around the third runway needs to balance the social benefits of flying, the economic benefits to London and the UK of this hub airport, the climate impact, and the impact on individuals." 

Bullock talks about "balance" a lot, though for the residents of Sipson, there may not be much balance on offer. As and when the third runway is built, their village simply won't be there any more. 

"Yeah," he says, quietly. "That's where we'd have to build the runway. And that's why we have noise insulation schemes, schemes to compensate people for the loss of the market value of their houses, a purchase scheme to buy other people's homes. But I accept ... you know ... We're never going to make those people happy in that situation. We can't, can we? It is very difficult for them." 

And is it difficult for him, taking those kind of decisions? 

"As a human being, I feel for them, but you've got to look at the greater good of society and balance out the benefits you get for the many, compared with the problems it causes for the few." 

Even with three runways, Heathrow could still lag behind many of its international competitors. Despite handling 10 million fewer passengers a year, Paris's Charles De Gaulle airport has four runways; Amsterdam's Schiphol is 20 million behind, and it has six. In the towns and villages that nudge Heathrow's perimeter, there are suspicions that once a third runway is built, Heathrow will then expand again. 

"Personally, I don't see that," says Bullock. "And it's so far in the future that I'll be long gone by then. That's ... [pause] ... not something that we're contemplating." 

And if someone points out that BAA said much the same thing about the third runway, what's his response? 

Another long pause. "That's an impossible question to answer, isn't it? Come back in 50 years' time, and ask me - and who knows? But my answer can only be that there is no need for a fourth runway at Heathrow." 

My tour of Heathrow finishes with the building that is BAA's pride and joy. On the former site of a sewage works, just to the east of the central knot of buildings that contains terminals one, two and three, work is about to finish on terminal five. Designed by Richard Rogers, it will open in March next year to handle all the airport's British Airways flights, and boost Heathrow's passenger capacity by up to 25 million, thus relieving a good deal of the pressure that currently burdens the airport. 

It is a spectacular place, lit up by skylights that form huge arcs, and capped at one end by a vast window that looks out on Heathrow's runways. Once you have left the arrivals area, you are confronted with a very un-Heathrow sight: an outdoor piazza, replete with lines of trees. "This will be an urban space, completely different from what you'd expect at an airport," says Mike Forster, Heathrow's strategy development director, who rhapsodises about the new terminal. "Essentially, it will be a little part of London." Once the project is completed, work on updating Heathrow will continue: terminals three and four will be refurbished, and terminals one and two will be replaced by a new building, to be called Heathrow East. 

For some people, unfortunately, the promise of a gleaming future rings rather hollow. Back in the existing terminal three, having flown into Stansted from the Republic of Ireland, 41-year-old Jack Fitzsimons is en route to Mauritius. He has arrived at Heathrow eight hours early. "This place is just chaotic," he says. "It's terrible. I used terminal three about a month ago, and it was just overwhelmed. I think of Heathrow as a nuisance airport." 

The next morning, I spend a few hours in and around Sipson, the village that nudges the climate camp, where plenty of local people view Heathrow as an increasingly painful headache. Bryan Sobey, the 78-year-old president of the Harlington and Sipson Residents' Association, has been living here since 1951, watching as the airport was transformed from "a few Nissen huts" into the leviathan of today. As we talk, his wife Ann occasionally comes into the front room, carrying bulging lever-arch files that contain two decades' worth of cuttings, correspondence and official documents relating to plans for a third runway. One of the most recent is spread out on the table in front of us: a BAA "Master plan" map, in which the proposed site of the new runway is represented by an anvil-shaped blob, coloured royal blue. Look hard at the map and you can see what are there now: around 700 houses, most of them built in the wake of a guarantee from government in 1953 that even if Heathrow expanded, Sipson would remain untouched. 

Sobey spent much of his working life as a Heathrow customs officer, and claims to have always been troubled by the ad hoc developments that made Heathrow the higgledy-piggledy place it is today. "They're all bolt-ons, and none of them work effectively," he says. "It should never have been designed like it was, but nobody knew what would happen to air travel back then. We're still stuck with an airport designed in the 1940s that's been adapted, by piecemeal development, over the years. But that's what we do in this country: we build piecemeal rubbish." 

In nearby Russell Gardens, I meet Christine Taylor, her sister Jane, and mother Sheila, who has spent all of her 75 years in and around Sipson (and never used a plane - "too terrifying", she says). She does not take much persuasion to map out the lost geography that lies underneath Heathrow's runways, terminals and surrounding roads. The aforementioned Holiday Inn, she says, was once a set of allotments. Along Bath Road - the unappealing dual carriageway, now lined with hotels, that marks the airport's northern boundary - there were once neighbourhood shops. She talks about orchards, and the long-lost fruit and vegetable farms that were once the area's main source of work. 

Her daughters are among the leading lights of a local campaign group Notrag (the No Third Runway Action Group), and of the opinion that any plan to expand Heathrow would represent "madness". With the third runway looking ever-more likely, they tell me, families have been moving out of Sipson at speed, selling their homes to buy-to-let landlords who then rent them out to low-paid airport employees. Two years ago, says Jane, 10 Chinese hotel workers were discovered living in a nearby one-bedroom house. Five would sleep during the day, five at night. They were only discovered when all 10 arrived in the house at the same time, and a fight broke out. 

In Cranford, an array of houses and shops that has the bleak sense of a community locked into a long decline, the story is very similar. Jagraj Sran owns a property business called Heathrow Estates, and has watched a steady exodus over the past two or three years. "A lot of families are leaving," he says. "With all the talk of a third runway, there is a panic." Even without the prospect of expansion, you can see why people would want out: at around the forty- fifth second of every minute, a plane streaks overhead, making a noise so loud that any conversation has to stop. 

On a long residential street called Berkeley Avenue, where the houses' double-glazed windows are 50% funded by BAA, the sound is truly deafening: an immense roar that has been known to shake the tiles from the roofs. Sarupa Soni - who, now aged 68, has lived in her house for 42 years - says she is woken by the planes at five o'clock every morning, and the noise goes on until 11 at night. "It is very, very annoying," she assures me. "But you have to stop yourself getting bothered by it." Standing in her back garden as yet another plane comes thundering into land, you can only marvel at her resilience. 

A mile or so down the road, meanwhile, the Camp For Climate Action's second afternoon brings a kind of uneasy tedium. While more planes roar by, the police carry on watching and the drums play on. The campers busy themselves with their workshops, while serried camera crews and journalists wait idly by - as in the terminals, engaged in that ubiquitous Heathrow pastime of quietly waiting for something to happen.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/airlines/story/0,,2148966,00.html

It's not only anarchists


Overzealous policing of the airport eco-protest shows the Met is miles behind the cultural curve 

Zoe Williams
Wednesday August 15, 2007
The Guardian 



I am delighted by the Heathrow eco-protesters. It feels like ages since there was a decent, bed-down, in-it-for-the-long-haul demonstration. The subject is the proposed expansion of the airport and consequent increase in flights, but let's focus on the legality of this protest. BAA initially applied for legal protection so broad that it would have banned members of the RSPB from the Piccadilly line. Yes, that is true. Its case was thrown out by the high court, however, and only one group - Plane Stupid - has been banned from entering the airport. Nobody's been banned from the Piccadilly line.

Everyone else, in consequence, is occupying the site between Sipson and Harlington legally. Don't get me wrong, they don't have planning permission - they're not allowed to build proper houses and live there. It is a legitimate protest, with appropriate permissions sought, and legal barriers overturned through proper channels. You'd never know it from the policing, which - the local force having commandeered 1,800 extra officers - outnumbers the protest group by more than 12 to one. 
Italian riot police have tear gas, and Swedish coppers, apparently, the right to drive marchers 20 miles down a motorway and leave them to walk back. Our police use overreaction. In the 2001 London May Day demo, where the police famously hemmed protesters into Oxford Circus for eight hours, effectively arresting everyone without having to jump through all the boring hoops associated with arresting people, police outnumbered protesters by six to one. That event, in fairness, had not been cleared through the channels of legitimacy. 

There is something galling about being told how much these things "cost" the taxpayer (Newbury bypass demos: £5m; May Day 2000: police applied for £3m but were only granted £1m), when that cost is swallowed up not by damage, but by police histrionics. 

To get back to the legitimate protesters, by the time they'd been there half a day, questions were being raised about heavy-handed police behaviour. The roads leading to the site had been blocked off; cars approaching were being searched under the Terrorism Act. One protester remarked: "They know we are not terrorists. It's an abuse of the law." And while they can't have it both ways, these liberals - you can't complain about racial profiling in stop-and-search tactics, and then say that you can't be a terrorist because you're obviously white and middle-class - this is nevertheless correct. They are obviously not terrorists. 

The police are overdoing it because they always do. They are behaving as they've been behaving since Greenham and Twyford Down and Aldermaston and the miners' strikes. While this may be in keeping with some guidelines they've got somewhere, they are well behind the curve of culture. 

It is no longer as simple as authority versus anarchy; both the main political parties have more in common, ideologically, with Friends of the Earth than with BAA. There is nothing remotely cranky about trying to limit flights. The absence of Hilary Benn and Peter Ainsworth (environment secretary and shadow, respectively) from the site is not because they represent respectability and the protesters lawlessness; from their green rhetoric, at least, we can only imagine they are busy with holidays and whatnot. 

There is nothing, in other words, to make the police suppose they need to protect the right-thinking holidaymaker from the savage crusty. The protesters are far more likely to be civic-minded and law-abiding than the holidaymakers are. Protest does not necessarily mean disobedience, and disobeying BAA is unlikely to make you an enemy of society. It's amazing how long it's taking the Met to catch up with all this. Its protest guidelines should be discarded to the policing of times past, along with institutional racism and wooden truncheons.
mszoewilliams at yahoo.co.uk

http://www.guardian.co.uk/airlines/story/0,,2151409,00.html

Attack of the baby eaters


Shameless exaggerations of the climate protesters' dastardly plans have left us baffled at the camp 

George Monbiot
Saturday August 18, 2007
The Guardian 



The allegations have been plaguing the Heathrow climate camp all week. They began in the Evening Standard: "Hoax bombs to cause alerts. Assaults on airport fence ... Protest leaders calling themselves 'The Elders' advised 'clashes with police will happen'." 
When I was asked on to Newsnight to discuss the issue of whether climate change is a greater threat than terrorism, we kept being dragged back to the hoax bombs. The story was later picked up across the media, including appearances in the Daily Mail and the Telegraph, and by Friday had been embellished with some lurid new quotes from the Metropolitan police in the Daily Express, which warned: "Extremist yobs hijack airport demo in plot to cause mayhem".

All this has left us at the protest camp scratching our heads. The actions planned for tomorrow have been discussed openly at huge meetings. But nothing even resembling the schemes proposed by the Evening Standard has even been mooted. The campers will certainly be breaking the law by taking direct action - all protests can now be deemed unlawful - but they will be governed by strict non-violent principles. 

There are quite a few of us veterans here but age, sadly, confers no privileges: the camp is non-hierarchical, and no one has heard of "The Elders". There are plenty of anarchists, but the last thing they want is a ruck with the police, not least because - armed with nothing more than a sheaf of scientific papers - they would lose. As for scaling the perimeter fence, it has been ruled out on the grounds that we would probably be shot. Invading Heathrow's massive runways would put the lives of thousands at risk. 

So where did the story come from? It was, or so the byline claimed, written by Robert Mendick, the Evening Standard's chief reporter. One of the campers phoned Mr Mendick and asked him what was going on. "I'm very constrained about what I can say for various reasons," Mr Mendick replied. "Suffice to say I understand what you're saying and I can't go into it. Er, and I would further say it's, er, not something I was actually massively involved with and, er, I'll leave it at that." "What do you mean?" "... I really can't go into it." 

So what does he mean? Why is Mr Mendick unable to say where the claims in his story came from? How did he manage to write an article that he was not "massively involved with"? Is there a computer programme at the Evening Standard that composes reporters' articles on their behalf? I left messages for Mr Mendick yesterday but was unable to speak to him. 

Protests like this have two peculiar vulnerabilities. One is that anyone can claim to speak on their behalf, either in person or online, whether or not they are involved. The other is that anyone can say anything about them without fear of being corrected, let alone sued: accusations can be levelled at the collective that could not be directed at any of its members. As long as the claims remain in the plural, they can be stretched as far as public credulity will allow. 

During one roads protest in the 1990s we were accused of stabbing guards with hypodermic needles filled with blood, setting pit traps lined with metal spikes in the hope of catching and killing the police and arming ourselves with catapults and crossbows to take out the contractors: all nonsense, of course. Yet when some of us were hospitalised by guards (alongside several others, I had a bone broken during an unprovoked attack), most of the newspapers wouldn't touch the story for fear of being sued by the security firm. 

Scare stories about anarchist baby eaters are as old as protest. We can't prevent their publication - all we can ask is that you read them with the scepticism their authors failed to employ. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2007/08/16/inside_climate_camp_feature.shtml

Global City

You are in: London > Features > My London > Global City > Inside the Climate Camp


Inside the Climate Camp
The week-long environmental protest near Heathrow, dubbed the climate camp, has been shrouded in secrecy. Media access has been restricted, however one of the protesters is giving BBC London an exclusive view of life inside the camp.

Up to 2,000 people are expected at the Camp for Climate Action, which is demonstrating against airport expansion plans and aviation generally.

The protester has agreed to keep BBC London up-to-date with the latest developments inside the camp. She has been inside the camp all week and wishes to remain anonymous.

Update Four - 17/08/07
This is an experiment in self-government that I am privileged to witness. Call it anarchism, call it collectivism, call it what you like, but will it work? Can people govern themselves on a camp for one week?

First thing: The length of the meetings is becoming increasingly annoying. They started off at about an hour, now they are running up to two hours each. It seems most of the day is taken up by non-stop meetings. This has reached farcical proportions because last night there was a meeting that went on from 6pm until 11pm with an interruption for George Monbiot's speech. The purpose of the meeting was to decide what mass action to take but at the end of the meeting the decision was identical to the decision arrived at the day before, which was that people may like to blockade BAA. Anyway, this is still being considered.

There are meetings every morning but these go on interminably with interruptions. It all seems to centre on a system, which is designed not to allow voting but instead to allow collective decision making. The problem with this is that if you get just one person who blocks the decision then it falls and this happened last night. Just a handful of people blocked a decision which had been taken by about 250 people to agree that the BAA action was the mass action to take, but because of a handful of blocks it had to go back to being considered.

So, marks for self-government: The jury's out.

There is also the issue of camp discipline. This seemed to be going very well, but there was an incident this morning, involving a very drunk and tall gentleman with face paint who was going around interrupting all the meetings and annoying people. At first, a 'tranquility' team, this is a bunch of people who intervene and stop disputes, didn't turn up because no one could find them. Then, people tried to negotiate with this chap, and eventually it was left to a woman who jumped on him and tried to hold him down. He was marched out of the tent, but then he started wondering around the camp until eventually a bunch of men grabbed him and tried to escort him off the site. This then descended into farce when, this man, as he was being carried off the site started shouting, 'I want the police, get me the police.' After being carried off the site he was last seen being intercepted by the police, much to the relief of camp organisers.

There have also been some reports of possible fighting involving locals on the site, but this is unconfirmed. The question for collective-anarchism is what to do about this? How can they police themselves and how can they police others who are causing trouble? Are they allowed to use force to control violence when the police are not here? 

This is a social experiment still in progress and the meetings continue.

Update Three - 16/08/07
Police helicopters are flying above us.

There are some people here wondering whether the police know the timings of the workshops and meetings and are doing it deliberately. The white noise is drowning out discussion to the irritation of some.

A few of the inhabitants have also noticed the police increasing their presence along the borders of the camp, especially close to the airport.

Update Two - 16/08/07
There is much concern on the camp about an incident yesterday when a group left to join what they had been told was a protest at Hatton Cross organised by the locals. They soon discovered that the locals hadn't organised a demonstration and when they left the camp they were rapidly rounded up by police and corralled. They claim they were then marched off by police in this corral to cause an obstruction on the Bath Road, which was then reported by the media as the first evidence of the demonstrators disrupting passengers' lives.

There seems to be a feeling on the camp now that the police are manipulating them and did this deliberately to make them look bad. So we are in the process of setting up our own group called 'Cop Watch' which is going to monitor the police activities in some way.

There is also some delight among the activists for an action taking place today at two private airports, I think they are, Farnborough and Biggin Hill. The camp has been told that this is down to small groups of independent people who may, or may not, have come from here.

What's going on at the moment? Several more meetings narrowing down the options for the mass action that is due to take place at noon for 24 hours on Sunday. There is also some concern here about what to do if the police do decide to close down the camp. At the moment the plan is to resist peacefully.

As for the eco-side of the camp, there are a lot of well-intentioned people here who sincerely believe that they are out to save the world from destruction and a lot of effort has been put into constructing eco-friendly activities.

So, let's go through and mark them:

POWER
Pass: There several wind-turbines on the camp providing power. At night a lot of car batteries come out to provide light in many of tents, although it's been said that these have been charged by solar panels and the wind turbines.

SANITATION
Possible Pass: The toilets involve urinating on a hay bale (which eventually start to smell like a rabbit hutch, which have not been cleaned out for months) and also making deposits in a wheelie bin. All this is meant to be used for compost, but where will it go?

WATER
Possible Fail: At the moment the only water on the site, we are told, is being taken from a fire hydrant and there are signs on the back saying that this may be of questionable quality, although people are continuing to drink it. But where does this water come from? It obviously takes energy to bring on to the site.

FOOD
Pass: Much of the food is vegan. In fact, there is a camp-wide policy to have vegan food on the basis that this consumes less energy.

Possible fail: However, mixed in with this food is soya milk, which is a product of industry. Also, some people have been handing out Belgian chocolates. And there have been regular trips outside the camp to find beer to drink.

Update One - 15/08/07
This whole camp is run on meetings. There are hundreds of them. Somehow everything from washing up to the toilet rota has been worked out.

  a.. email: yourlondon at bbc.co.uk
I have been waiting for some time now for something interesting to happen.

The mass action being planned for Sunday has been hotly debated and has been changed several times. Over several hours at a conference in a tent activists discussed various options.

Now Lord Clive Soley can breathe easy. The plan for a mass demonstration in his back garden has been axed.

The most popular plan to date is to bring BAA HQ and Heathrow to a standstill. Conveniently this is only a 800 metres away from the camp.

The activists here are a pretty cheerful bunch, some of whom are veterans of the G8 Parliament Square demonstrations.

The question remains how all the activists are going to physically get out of the site.

Let us know what you think about the climate camp protests.
Your Views
I have just watched BBC News @ 13.00hrs and also your london news.  The Broadcaster talked about the demonstrations at Biggin Hill & Heathrow.   As a resident in the area, it is not just about Climate change but also about between 700 to 1000 homes being destroyed, 12,000 to 15,000 people being displaced, is it possible for you to report more accurately & not what BAA want you to believe. 1 Aircraft produces more pollution than many cars but it would seem that cars are to blame.   I am about to lose my home, I am 72 yrs & my wife 66 yrs of age, where do we go? Tell me, into a home?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6943084.stm

      Last Updated: Sunday, 12 August 2007, 17:21 GMT 18:21 UK  

             E-mail this to a friend   Printable version  
     
      Heathrow protesters set up camp  
             
            Protesters will attend a week of activities  
      A climate change protest camp is being set up outside Heathrow airport, two days earlier than had been expected. 
      Thousands of protesters are expected this week at the Camp for Climate Action, which opposes the expansion of London's biggest airport. 

      About 150 campaigners have begun building a camp less than a kilometre outside the airport's perimeter. 

      In response, airport operator BAA warned it would not allow passengers to be "harassed or obstructed". 

      Protesters from the UK and abroad are planning a week of demonstrations which will highlight what they claim are the links between climate change and aviation. 

      'Direct action' 

      A "mass direct action" is scheduled for next Sunday and a website supporting the camp has promised acts of "civil disobedience". 

           HEATHROW AIRPORT 
             
            67.7m passengers each year
            469,560 flights each year
            68,000 employees
            Four terminals, two runways
            Terminal 5 set to open 2008
           

      Organisers say that a "temporary eco-village" has been set up near the villages of Sipson and Harlington - between the M4 motorway and the airport's northern perimeter. 

      Protesters claim that the growth in air travel is a major factor in greenhouse gas emissions. 

      "Holding the camp at Heathrow aims to highlight the lunacy of the government's airport expansion plans," says a statement from campaigners. 

      Gemma Davis, a spokeswoman for the Camp for Climate Change, told the BBC that the intention was not to delay holidaymakers. 

      "We're not here to try to disrupt passengers, we're here to try to disrupt BAA," she said. 

      There are reports that the site, only 800 metres from BAA's Heathrow headquarters, was occupied by a group of protesters overnight. 

      'Irresponsible' 

      A police spokesman said that about 150 people have set up camp at a sports ground belonging to Imperial College London - and that the protest was peaceful. 

             
            The camp will culminate in a day of protest 

      Airport operator, BAA, has warned against protests which could be a dangerous distraction at a time of heightened security fears. 

      Last week, BAA won a High Court ruling banning certain protesters from Heathrow - but the injunction does not prevent the setting up of the camp. 

      "With the current terrorism threat, keeping Heathrow safe and secure is a very serious business. Any action taken by the protestors that distracts us or the police from this task is irresponsible and unlawful," said Mark Bullock, BAA Heathrow's managing director. 

      "Around 1.5 million passengers are due to pass through Heathrow during the week of climate camp, many of them families on their summer holidays. 

      "It is our responsibility to ensure that we do everything we can to guarantee their safety and comfort during this very busy period." 

      The protesters have also been joined by a local resident, James Payne, who says that uncertainty about the future expansion of the airport had prevented him from selling his house. 
     


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6947540.stm

      'Tension growing' at climate camp  
             
            Policing levels have now returned to normal at the camp 
      A week-long climate change protest near Heathrow airport is continuing amid signs of growing tension between campaigners and police. 
      An attempt to increase police numbers has been blocked and a woman arrested after gluing herself to a gate. 

      Scotland Yard said its four officers at the camp had met with opposition and more staff had been sent in as support. 

      The protesters want Heathrow's planned expansion halted because they say it will contribute to climate change. 



      Map of proposed Heathrow expansion and climate camp 
      Organisers said more than 100 demonstrators prevented about 30 officers from entering the camp overnight. 

      Timothy Lever, a spokesman for the camp, said: "A large number of police attempted to break into the camp and they were peacefully removed by a large crowd of protesters with their hands in the air who gradually moved the police away. 

              

      "The police gave us no warning and did not say why they were coming on the site. They did it after the media left." 

      Scotland Yard said a uniformed forward intelligence team met opposition from some of the members of the camp, and more officers were sent in support. 

      A statement said: "Police worked with the camp liaison to resolve the issue. Policing levels have now returned to the normal patrolling officers." 

      Protester Penny Eastwood, of Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage after she glued her hand to a metal gate on the edge of the camp. 

      Groups banned 

      Organisers say 550 people have now joined the camp - between the M4 motorway and the airport's northern perimeter in west London - and expect up to 2,000 people to take part in the protest this weekend. 

      About 1,800 officers from Surrey police, Thames Valley police, the Metropolitan police, and British Transport Police will oversee the event. 

              

      Airport operator BAA has obtained an High Court injunction banning certain protest groups from the airport. 

      Organisers of the protest say the first few days will be taken up with 100 workshops on issues ranging from campaigning skills to practical training on how to take direct action. 

      But a website supporting the camp has also promised acts of "civil disobedience". 

      Police say the protesters are on the site - a sports ground belonging to Imperial College London - illegally. 

      The campaigners insist they cannot be evicted without a court order so long as no criminal damage is committed. 

      A fifth terminal will open at Heathrow in March 2008 and a new runway has been proposed by the government for about 2020. 
     


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/6949076.stm

      Climate change protest at airport  
             
            The airport is operating normally despite the protest 
      Climate change campaigners are staging a protest outside Farnborough Airport in Hampshire. 
      A spokesman for Hampshire Constabulary said that about 18 people were taking part in the peaceful protest outside the airport. 

      "They are causing minimum disruption to the services," the spokesman said. 

      It is believed the protesters are linked to the Camp for Climate Action involving more than 500 people at Heathrow Airport. 

      Farnborough airport chief executive Brandon O'Reilly said: "We have about 10 or 11 chaps lying on the ground in front of one of the security gates, but the airport is operating normally. 

      "It's a peaceful protest. The police are here and there is no trouble." 

      Farnborough, which hosts a major international air show every two years, has about 100 flights a day involving private jets. 




     



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070818/85bad10e/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 378539.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 39482 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070818/85bad10e/attachment.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 378139.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 7631 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070818/85bad10e/attachment-0001.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: camp203_203x152.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 41302 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070818/85bad10e/attachment-0002.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: o.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070818/85bad10e/attachment.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: dot_629.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 75 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070818/85bad10e/attachment-0001.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: email.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 70 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070818/85bad10e/attachment-0002.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: print.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 73 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070818/85bad10e/attachment-0003.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: _44053967_heathrow_pa203b.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 15752 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070818/85bad10e/attachment-0003.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: _44054131_heathrowgetty203.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 8007 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070818/85bad10e/attachment-0004.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: _44053964_heathrow2_pa203.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 32491 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070818/85bad10e/attachment-0005.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: _44059447_heathrow_pa203b.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 12853 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070818/85bad10e/attachment-0006.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: _44057632_carbon_gra203x290.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 9388 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070818/85bad10e/attachment-0004.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: _44056201_airport_numbers_203.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 5620 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070818/85bad10e/attachment-0005.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: _44061515_protest203.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 21277 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070818/85bad10e/attachment-0007.jpg>