Lobbying, protest and witness
‘No case to answer.’ The Court of Appeal’s verdict for the ‘Stansted 15’.
Friends continued their witness last year with more taking part in Extinction Rebellion (XR) action, as well as Insulate Britain and youth climate strikes. In a year where the fundamental principle of protest came under threat with the imminent policing bill, Quakers took to the street to act out their testimonies. This included protesting against the Liverpool Electronic Arms Fair and taking part in ‘Kill the Bill’ protests, where Bristol Friends acted as legal observers. Around 100 Quakers joined other Stop the Arms Fair protests at the Defence Security Equipment and International (DSEI) arms fair in September. Friends laid themselves out in the rain to stop people from attending the event, sang peace songs and glued themselves together as part of their witness. Unlike previous years, no Friends were arrested.
Elsewhere, other Quakers continued to work quietly behind the scenes. In April, Quakers and other campaigners secured a key change to the Overseas Operations Bill meaning that armed forces personnel can still be prosecuted in the UK for war crimes and crimes against humanity, even if the allegations emerge, or the investigation concludes, more than five years after the events took place. There was other good news when Scottish Ballet announced it was reviewing its sponsorship policy with BP after climate activists – including Bristol Friend James Deane – staged a protest during the last days of COP26.
Meanwhile Friends won successful court cases. Six of the ‘Shell Seven’ protestors, including the Quaker XR co-founder Ian Bray, were cleared of causing £25,000-worth of damage to the Shell headquarters in London. The trial was hailed as a landmark, with the judge telling the jury the defendants had no defence in law for the charges. ‘In many ways this is a highly unusual case… it’s for you to consider not me,’ he added. Legal experts said the outcome raised big questions about climate action, suggesting that multinationals could no longer be protected in law from ‘climate flak’.
Tottenham Friend Jo Frew also had her charges quashed for highway obstruction using ‘lock-on’ devices to block access to the DSEI arms fair in 2017. Nicholas Hamblen and Ben Stephens, of the supreme court, said: ‘There should be a certain degree of tolerance to disruption to ordinary life.’
Finally, in February, the ‘Stansted Fifteen’ protestors – including Quaker Lyndsay Burtonshaw – won their appeal against terrorism-related convictions for stopping a deportation flight from taking off in March 2017. The verdict came on 29 January when the Court of Appeal said: ‘The appellants should not have been prosecuted [under this act]… There was, in truth, no case to answer.’
