Originally published at the Guardian’s Comment Is Free
Well, it could have been worse…
What a surprise. What might have been a verbal bloodbath – a confrontation between vocal diehard protesters in the gallery, a pro-police Tory mayor chairing the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) and the many-viewed MPA members themselves – turned into a positive outcome for democracy.
Decisions were made and questions were asked that will determine future improvements to the Met and its public order policing. The general feeling among MPA members was that over-aggressive tactics by the police just couldn’t continue.
To
my astonishment, the mayor of London performed well. In spite of some
dubious statements in the recent past, the mayor appears to have
listened to the concerns of Londoners and achieved a kind of consensus
on the MPA about the way forward. He spoke to the hecklers in the
gallery, explaining that people all over the UK wanted to hear what was
going on and please to keep quiet. It worked. The protesters politely
kept their complaints to clapping for MPA speakers they supported, or
growling "shame" at those they didn’t.
The MPA has set up a civil
liberties panel, with its first job of work to examine the policing of
the G20 protests. Some tough critics of the Met will be on the panel
and we shall implement the necessary changes. Crucially, the terms of
reference for the panel incorporated all the concerns put forward in
both of the motions we considered.
I don’t want to suggest that all is well. Personally I still have major concerns over the level of force used against the peaceful protesters at the Climate Camp in Bishopsgate. The Met’s report
to the MPA refers to the organisers of the camp being avowed nonviolent
demonstrators and to the success of the police’s containment policy in
keeping out violent elements, yet the police waded in very aggressively
to clear the camp. So far, they have failed to provide any evidence of
any violence at the camp and video footage that we have seen shows only
passive resistance.
We have to question the use of riot shields and batons against peaceful
protesters and the decision to clear the camp at all. All protest
creates some disruption and blocking a road is low on the scale of
disorder.
The police too seem to have been listening. I welcome
the police’s acceptance of the need to meet the climate camp protesters
very soon and include them within any review. I also welcome clear
statements from the police that photographing officers is a legal act
and your camera won’t be taken
for doing it. They also said that the police can’t require protesters
to delete photographs, or hand over mobile phones at these events, by
reference to anti-terrorism legislation — a paper clarifying this policy
is being produced soon. Nor should officers systematically stop people
on their way to the protest and asking for their names, addresses and
even ID. That’s all real progress and we can measure them against it.
For
people who don’t feel the MPA has gone far enough to challenge the
police on their failings, I would say that this is only the start of a
long process of change for policing in London. Change is never easy,
especially for a huge organisation like the Met, but they have seen the
opinion polls,
and they have read the runes that say they have to clear out the nasty
elements and inculcate a fresher, more enlightened behaviour, and it’s
our job at the MPA to make sure they do.
• Jenny Jones is a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority