Requiem For Protest IV

Can we stop arresting harmless humans please?

Last weekend I was back in Trafalgar Square filming another piece of theatre of the absurd. Billed as “Everyone Day” by the organisers, the sit down protest was originally envisaged as a celebration of the ruling that the proscription of Palestine Action was unlawful. When the High Court judgment was announced The Met Police published a statement that they would stop arresting sign holders pending the outcome of the government’s appeal. Then, on 26 March, they U-turned and announced they would continue with arrests after all. True to their word, 18 signholders were subsequently arrested outside Scotland Yard and it became clear that “Everyone Day” would become another mass arrest day.

The U-turn is interesting. I don’t think many people think arresting thousands for peacefully sitting holding signs is a good use of police resources. I suspect many in the police do not think so either. Prior to the judicial review the police could reason that they were just doing their job and arresting people because that is what the law required. But, with the proscription judged unlawful, they had the perfect excuse to stop these resource-intensive arrests. And indeed, that was their first decision. But then someone somewhere in the upper echelons of the police gave the order to continue with the arrests. The police are supposed to be operationally independent, they are meant to be answerable to the law and not their political masters. We do not know that they were subject to political interference but given the U-turn, in an Occam’s razor kind of way, the decision to continue with arrests suggests that this may have been the case.

And so, along with my musical collaborator Kim Halliday, I found myself making the fourth episode in my series of shorts Requiem For Protest that documents the Lift The Ban campaign.

In this film, you get an idea of the astounding numbers of police officers drafted in to police these protests. Some were wearing bibs with Heddlu Police which means they had been bussed in from Wales. Alongside The Met police there were units from multiple other branches too. You also see yet more defiant sitters and their dogged determination to fight this. The peaceful vigil in confrontation with state violence makes for a powerful statement. While the action - sitting down with a placard - is easy to take, the consequences can be life changing. These are brave people.

For anyone who finds it hard to see beyond the keffiyahs and identity politics, I urge you to look at this film without that lens: arresting grandmas as terrorists - or anyone for that matter -for peacefully holding a placard is utter utter madness.

523 people were arrested on 11 April in Trafalgar Square and a further 7 were arrested in Hastings. In Truro however people holding the same signs were not. It seems someone in charge of operations at Devon & Cornwall police determined there were better ways to use their police time. There is hope yet.

While I was filming, an American tourist asked what was going on. I took a deep breath and explained. He looked confused. I made a comment that there was some bad stuff going down in the US too, referencing ICE. His reply? “Yes, but at least we can still protest in America.”

I worry that the absurd is becoming normalised. I’ve witnessed so many kind and gentle people be manhandled and carried off by the police that I am no longer shocked by it. I heard shock and concern in the voices of passing tourists who did not understand what they were seeing. On witnessing five police officers carrying an elderly lady who had gone floppy they assumed she must be ill and in need of care. I wonder if they went back home and told their friends that we don’t have paramedics and ambulance services in the UK? The sight was so incomprehensible to them that this was the only conclusion they could come to. I wonder what they would have thought if I had turned to them and said, “no, the person they are carrying off is a terrorist.”

I remember reading absurdist dystopian novels as a student, I never imagined that 30 years later I would actually be a character in one.

Can we stop arresting harmless humans please?

Can we take a ‘time out’ to reflect and reset our priorities please?

This protest happened in the same week that the leader of the free world announced he wanted to destroy a whole civilisation.

Just an idea, but perhaps we could stop killing harmless humans instead?

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Talking of the absurd becoming normalised, next week (21 - 28 April) The Conspiracists - London Conversations kicks off.

For 7 evenings across 8 nights I will be in cinemas for screenings and Q&As of my latest feature film, The Conspiracists. Noelle Cook is visiting from the US to join me at the Q&As. As well as featuring in the film, Noelle is the writer of the book The Conspiracists, a great accompaniment to the film, and brings her expertise in what drives women into extremism and conspiracism.

Each evening we have a different Q&A host who will bring their own perspective to the world of conspiracism including Hardeep Matharu (Byline Times), Deborah Frances-White (The Guilty Feminist), Jennifer Nadel (Compassion in Politics), Liz Pendleton (Media Revolution), Saskia Lux (Amnesty Feminists), Pragna Patel (Project Resist) and Marina Cantacuzino (The Forgiveness Project.)

The Conspiracists Trailer

Opening night at Bertha DocHouse is now sold out but, at the time of writing, tickets are still available for Curzon Soho (22 April), The Lexi (23 April), The Castle (24 April), Act One (26 April), The Phoenix (27 April) and Forest Cinema (28 April).

If you are in London, I hope you can join us for one of these special curated events.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all the independent cinema programmers who book my films and open up these opportunities to show them in these beautiful spaces so we can come together to watch and discuss. I want to thank all the people and the Q&A hosts who support my work by coming to the screenings. And, all the people who appear in the films, along with the team of incredible people around me who put so much time, effort and craft into making them. These films take years to make, so it is always a very special moment when I get to watch them in a cinema with you.