PRITI PATEL has said eco activists who adopt “guerrilla tactics... that seek to undermine and cause damage to our society” should “face the full force of the law”.
The home secretary said she was “disgusted to see” Extinction Rebellion protesters disrupting news services over the weekend, adding that a “free press is the cornerstone of British society”.
Home Office sources said she has ordered a review of the law, seeking harsher sentences for “environmental extremists”.
“Alongside a free press, peaceful protest is a right that is enjoyed by all in this great country, but it is unacceptable for groups to hide behind this while committing criminal acts that prevent the public from going about their day to day lives,” Patel wrote in the Daily Mail on Monday (7).
“It is not tolerable for groups to attack democracy by claiming they are little more than peaceful protesters.”
Reports said options under consideration included designating the Extinction Rebellion group as an organised crime gang, with offenders facing up to five years in jail.
A Home Office source said the aim was to ensure people who harm society get “banged up instead of escaping with a fine they can pay from their trust fund”.
“While Extinction Rebellion claim to be an environmental rights campaign group, their actions speak louder than their words, and their continued guerrilla tactics show that they do not believe in peaceful protest – but instead seek to undermine and cause damage to our society, disrupting the hard working individuals who are trying to keep this country moving forwards,” wrote Patel.
Referring to the group’s blockade of major transit routes last year, the home secretary opined that some of its protests were “designed, not to send a message, but to cause the most disruption possible”.
“It’s even more disgraceful to see these tactics revived at a time when this country faces the grave threat of coronavirus,” she added.
“The actions of these protesters have shown contempt for the police and the British public.
“As Home Secretary I am committed to tackling this head on.”
Patel stressed the government will not allow the “livelihoods of hardworking people to be undermined by a minority acting with contempt, seeking to grind the economic well-being of our nation into the ground under the pretence of tacking climate change”.
The home secretary said she would everything needed to “ensure the police have powers required to tackle the disruption caused by groups such as Extinction Rebellion”.
“I will be looking at every opportunity available, including primary legislation, to ensure that there is a full suite of tools available to tackle this behaviour,” she added.
Patel said her message was clear: “as you plot and scheme to curtail our freedoms you are committing criminal acts and be in no doubt you will face the full force of the law”.
“You will be punished for your actions,” she warned.
Former shadow home secretary, meanwhile, condemned plans to classify Extinction Rebellion as an organised crime gang.
“They’re not criminals, they’re protesters and activists in the tradition of the suffragettes and the hunger marches of the 1930s,” she said.
“I think it’s important to remind ourselves that direct action – which is what those actions were – is actually legal.”
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said he was “astounded” the Labour lawmaker’s defence of the group’s acts.
“The idea that it is right to damage property or intervene with a free press in the name of progressive protest is, I think, perverse,” he added.
Extinction Rebellion on Sunday defended its targeting of print works as a move to ensure that climate change gets more press coverage.
It added that “organised crime” was “characterised by violence or the threat of violence and by the use of bribery and corruption”.
“That is hardly an accurate description of the thousands of ordinary people who take part in Extinction Rebellion’s non-violent protests,” the group said in a statement.
