Gareth Kane on Direct Action
As Swampy dusts off his army surplus boots and joins the Heathrow Airport Climate Camp, Gareth Kane asks whether this is a turning point in the climate debate.
It could be the mid-nineties all over again with the dreadlocked hordes descending upon a perceived environmental criminal armed only with some scaffolding poles, handcuffs and a vegan cookbook. Back then it was the roads, now it’s the skies.
My own experiences of direct action are rather pathetic. Back in 1993 I took part in a student anti third world debt protest, marching around Cambridge's Market Square with a coffin to the beat of a funereal drum to represent the starving poor to the general amusement of the Saturday afternoon shoppers. After the two coppers who had been assigned to us decided to go and catch some more interesting disorder, the protesters plunged into the local Midland Bank for a sit-in. Except yours truly, who bravely decided that someone had to stay outside to make sure that the passers-by knew what was going on.
I marched around Newcastle against The War in 2003 until the bombs started dropping on Iraq. After that, soldiers’ relatives started screaming and spitting at us in the street, and I went home. I also did the slightly bizarre ‘Make Poverty History’ tramp around Edinburgh in 2005, accompanied by the nagging feeling that we were taking part in a New Labour party political broadcast.
But I’ve always had a lot of respect for the hardcore protesters who really stick these things out. They tend to lose the battle, but win the war. The bypass protesters of the 1990s undoubtedly changed Government road building policies forever, third world debt is being taken seriously to a greater or lesser extent, and I doubt the UK will be standing side by side with the US if they attack Iran. So what effect will the Climate Camp have?
A recent Government survey suggesting that 50% of Brits still don’t believe that their lifestyle is having an effect on the climate. Politicians are happy to pontificate on standby switches, efficient lightbulbs and phone chargers left plugged in, but get nervous when asked the difficult questions. Maybe what we need is someone to get to the nub of the issue and confront those big lifestyle issues. Maybe the Climate Camp will do that. We shall see. But, as usual, I’ll be watching from a distance.
Until next time,
Gareth
Gareth Kane
Eco-living Blog
Terra Infirma
