Heroes or pests to be locked away?
Should you get years in prison for caring about our planet?
In the late 19th and early 20th century the women’s suffrage movement used civil resistance as a tactic to secure voting rights. In the mid 1900s Gandhi led a civil resistance movement challenging British colonial rule. It resulted in India gaining independence in 1947. Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks and John Lewis, leading figures in the Civil Rights Movement used nonviolent protest tactics. It resulted in the passing of The Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act in the 1940s. Nelson Mandela and other activists used nonviolent protest action as part of the Anti-Apartheid movement. As a result, the apartheid system was dismantled. The People Power Revolution in the Philippines involved a sustained campaign of civil resistance and large demonstrations. As a result Marcos was exiled and democracy was restored. The Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia relied heavily on civil resistance. It led to the fall of communism and the transition to democracy. Occupations and sit-ins, and civil disobedience were a hallmark of the The Arab Spring protests between 2010-2012. While they have faced setbacks, those protests initially led to regime change and a move towards democracy. These protesters are regarded as heroes today. Statues have been built to honour them and the impact they had on society is taught in schools. Yet, in the current court of public opinion we are failing to see the parallels between those heroes and today’s activists who are engaging in nonviolent civil resistance. Those protesters from the past were often hated by their peers too, only time went on to show that they were on the right side of history.
On Friday, the judgement for the appeal of the “Lord Walney 16” was announced. The appeal related to the sentence lengths of a group of 16 climate protesters who received prison sentences totaling 41 years between July and September 2024. The majority of the appellants saw no reduction in their sentences, but “The Whole Truth Five” who were convicted for their roles in planning the M25 gantries action each had their sentences reduced. Hallam’s sentence was reduced from 5 years to 4 years and the others who each had 4 year sentences had theirs reduced to 3 years or 30 months. This is not a victory for protest rights, these are still hugely long sentences for nonviolent direct action by any standard.
[Photo: The Whole Truth Five pictured with UN Rapporteur Michel Forst before attending their trial at Southwark Crown Court]
In 2023 Morgan Trowland and Marcus Decker were the first nonviolent climate protesteres sentenced under the Police, Crime and Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. They received the longest ever sentences for peaceful protest at that time: 3 years and 2 years 7 months respectively. At the time there was shock at the length of the sentences. An appeal was mounted. It was dismissed. Their sentences remained intact, in part because of “political will.”
Long sentences for nonviolent peaceful protest will no longer shock as this becomes normalised. One person who hasn’t been deterred by these long sentences was Daniel Day who, this weekend, scaled Big Ben with a Palestinian flag. No doubt many people will be deterred though. Or, we may see a shift to more clandestine direct action.
It appears that the UK is leading the way in the democratic west when it comes to repressive protest laws.
In delivering her judgement on Friday, Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, stated that it is not to be regarded as a benchmark ruling as every case needs to be considered in its own context. However, what both of these appeals do, is indicate a very clear direction of travel when it comes to the extent to which the UK is willing to repress protest. Politicians in The Netherlands are indicating that they too want to criminalise protest and hand out harsher penalties. In their parliamentary debates1 they are using the UK as inspiration! It appears that the UK is leading the way in the democratic west when it comes to repressive protest laws.
What is even more troubling is we now have a “left wing” government in place, headed up by someone who had a strong track record in human rights. While the current set of oppressive protest laws came into place under the previous Conservative government, the new Labour government are showing no sign of repealing them. These laws need to be repealed now. If this government won’t do it, then who will? Imagine what may happen if a far right government is elected next?
The vitriol directed at climate and pro-Palestinian activists taking direct action is being inflamed by the tabloid and right-wing media. The draconian punishments being handed out by the courts is adding further validation to that position. Only a tiny percentage of the population are actually inconvenienced by their actions, but if you go to almost any pub in the UK and mention the name Just Stop Oil you’ll be bombarded with comments about how they are awful people and they are going about it all wrong. “Those Stop Oil people should protest differently. They should protest around parliament instead. What right do they have to disrupt our lives?”
The problem is, they are not allowed to protest outside Parliament. If they do, they get arrested. Right now, you can drive your tractor into the centre of London and get support from the media for blocking traffic around Parliament. You are also much less likely to get arrested in your tractor than a climate activist who dares to step into that same road.
Activists who take the leap into civil disobediance do so because they’ve realised that taking part in an official police-approved march does not effect change. The very first documentary I made back in my film school days covered the Stop The War march in February 2003. Well over 1 million people marched. Nevertheless, the following month the UK invaded Iraq. Despite the huge numbers, that protest changed nothing.
Will the direct actions and the civil disobedience that the climate and pro-Palestinian activists are currently engaged in change anything? Only time will tell, but, I refer you back to the list of movements at the beginning of this article. All of those groups had to resort to some form of civil disobedience and newsworthy shock tactics to get their voices heard and force change. Perhaps it’s time to go easy on them in the pub and start demanding the government repeal the draconian anti-protest laws that may affect us all one day.
Liz Smith is the director of the documentary The Line We Crossed, a British story of dissent told from the frontlines from the perspective of the climate activists. It traces how we have lost essential protest rights and challenges audiences to question what makes dissent effective and where the line of acceptability is. The film will be released in cinemas and community centres across the UK from 23rd June 2025. If you would like to see it at a screen near you, let us know by taking 1 minute to fill out this form.
If you would like the English translation of the relevant parts of this text please reach out. A Dutch speaker has kindly gone to the effort to translate it for us.