My view was that what the people occupying the site had done was illegal and that the Council had every right to apply for and, if the application was upheld, ask those living on the site to vacate it. The problem is that there are a number of factors involved here:
People - public morality - lawfulness (and lawlessness) - public money.
My view was that surely there must be a packet of land somewhere near that could have been set-up to accomodate the residents of Dale Farm and that developing and moving the residents to this must be cheaper than the cost of paying the salaries of the british legal profession.
I was (and still am) under the impression that the threat of cost, poor publicity, manipulation of the legal elements and violence were all brought together by the residents (along with the so called 'protesters' who bring their violence and civil disobedience under the guise of supporting the residents) to scare Basildon Council off from clearing the site.
This view was confirmed by a resident of the site on this morning's Radio Four News programme who told listeners that by the time they'd finished clearing the site, the violence and their response would herald a new era of Gypsy and Traveller rights as no Council would dare to go up against them again!
I am sorry, but the threat of violence must never be allowed to overthrow the rule of law and such thinking must be dealt with fairly and with the minimum of violence, but the rule of law cannot be thrown aside because of fear. It is a great shame that common sense (on all sides) has not prevailed, but now there is no option left available to either side and we can do is pray that some commonsense and a minimum of force used (or required) will prevail and that those vulnerable residents are engaged with properly.
Pax
3 comments:
The problem the police face is that of the anarchists who have joined the residents. They think nothing of inflicting harm to the police and yet the police will be vilified if one of them is so much as scratched.
Time the police reacted with equal and appropriate force so that those who think they can overthrow the rule of law by violence and unlawful behaviour found out where the line is drawn.
So do you think it is right to engage in ethnic cleansing and act against people groups using force?
The use of tasers for crowd control sets a new precendent that will see this nation live out the realities of a banana republic and the people camping on the steps of cathederals being chased away like they are in st Pauls is surely the beginning of the end?
Sorry - didn't realise I had these two comments!
I have said today that I consider the police to have acted extremely well with the way they entered the site and I have also to add that I don't see any evidence of ethnic cleansing (and neither did the UN, despite the way some have portrayed it to the public and the media).
Seems to me that many anarchistic types are using this as an excuse to practise their craft and that at the end of the day it is the travellers who will be the losers at a number of levels.
Thanks for the comments though,
V
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