Tory bully MP Mark Field shoves a protestor against a pillar then grabs her by her neck

[Rob Ray]

Climate campaigners have been doing this sort of protest for years, and anyone pretending that there was a legitimate fear of violence being responded to is a liar.

Sasaferrato seems to be going further still and suggesting that violence enacted by a large man against a passive woman victim is A-OK as long as said victim is peacefully standing somewhere on principle rather than by accident. Which would make him a twat.

 

[Rivendelboy]

given some of your posts on other threads it wouldn't have surprised me if you'd been entirely honest

Did you actually think he was going to arrange an all female hit squad to take out Jim Davidson?

 

[Teaboy]

Expect maybe but not accept. Knowing that some people are scum doesn't make their behaviour an acceptable part of society or life in general.

Yes, well put.

 

[treelover]

It was a deliberately provocative protest it has to be said. This is the point of this sort of direct action and those undertaking it must accept that with this sort of protest there will likely be a response which could include being forcibly removed from the building.

This being said it shouldn't be him doing it and the force was clearly disproportionate. The stuff about him feeling threatened is an obvious lie, he just lost his temper and attacked a woman.

Wise post, but many protesters, including me, have faced worse, thrown down stairs, etc.

 

[Dillinger4]

Social media having a predictable meltdown over this. Mostly in favour of that fucking Field arse

I need to stay away from it for a bit, lest I bust a blood vessel...

I don't even know how to word this, but recently I have been finding all of this more and more unbearable. Not just that this man can behave like this with no consequences, but that a large part of the population thinks it's right. And not just that either, how the selection for the PM has been kept within the conservative party with no suggestion that this is unconstitutional and undemocratic. And that whoever wins is determined going to throw us over the edge with no deal brexit. I feel as though the time for talking is soon to be over and the time to be on the streets shouting as loudly as possible to everyone who will listen how fucking wrong all of this is.

I've never believed that Britain is truly democratic and always known that the upper class in Britain has had their way for a long time,but this really is getting a bit to much. It's fucking sickening seeing how this is all unfolding.

I did vote for brexit and this is sort of what I wanted, for all the fucking crazies and scumbag Tories to expose themselves for what they are. Be careful what you wish for I suppose.

 

[Rob Ray]

Wise post, but many protesters, including me, have faced worse, thrown down stairs, etc.

It's not a matter of degree though, it's a general principle of decent behaviour that you don't respond to a non-violent opponent by randomly assaulting them. It's kind of the whole point of non-violent direct action that it sits within that social compact.

 

[Pickman's model]

Did you actually think he was going to arrange an all female hit squad to take out Jim Davidson?

i don't think he could arrange an all female hit squad to take out a pizza.

 

[Wilf]

It was a deliberately provocative protest it has to be said. This is the point of this sort of direct action and those undertaking it must accept that with this sort of protest there will likely be a response which could include being forcibly removed from the building.

This being said it shouldn't be him doing it and the force was clearly disproportionate. The stuff about him feeling threatened is an obvious lie, he just lost his temper and attacked a woman.

I agree with this in the sense of how you think about protests. If you get hit on a protest by cops or a scumbag MP, you shouldn't wail and moan on the grounds of some abstract right to peaceful protest. If you think the state and ruling class are violent, don't be surprised when they are. They are your enemies, that's the point, not friends who can be persuaded to act decently.

That's an aside, not really related to this case. I've not heard the woman speak about it or seen Greenpeace's take on it. And none of that is to deny the MP is a misogynistic scumbag and deserves everything he (isn't likely) to get.

 

[Pickman's model]

17 Minute countdown clocks for sale...

View attachment 174877

you could have them trotting down the street in a crocodile holding hands, bet you could get them there in 15 minutes if you laid on the lash

 

[Rob Ray]

If you think the state and ruling class are violent, don't be surprised when they are.

No-one's surprised, and few long-term activists think "rights" is a thing when the State decides otherwise, but tbh I think this misses the reason why hammering the point as much as possible is done:

1. It highlights to people who don't already think of the State and its elites as fundamentally violent that their perspective of a civilised democracy run by reasonable people is at odds with the actual behaviour of that State and its elites. When it happens often and publicly enough, that does have an impact on public perception over time.
   
2. It increases the likelihood that there will be at least some consequences for such behaviour, even if that mostly comes in the form of a liberal dressing down, some unpleasant bureaucratic browbeating and a hit to the career path. Maybe that'll change behaviour, maybe it won't, but my hunch is that there's a lot of Mark Fields out there who behave in public because they don't like the hassle they'd face for acting out.

 

[belboid]

Exposing the violence inherent in the system. It's got quite a pedigree.

 

[Poot]

You know what it makes me think? It makes me think we need more angry middle aged women. An army. See how they'd react to that.

 

[Rob Ray]

Exposing the violence inherent in the system. It's got quite a pedigree.

First person to post that Monty Python and the Holy Grail skit gets their inbox spammed with pictures of things with tiny holes.

 

[existentialist]

yeh he's fucked
View attachment 174864
if it was for 'a split second' then why did he carry on afterwards?

And that look on his face wasn't the look of someone "reacting" - it was the posturing look of someone confident in his righteous purpose.

 

[chilango]

There is a genuine degree of fear of the mob creeping into the political class. Even in their bubble they're seeing the anger all around them, in previously 'safe spaces' such as Question Time they're witnessing a real visceral rage directed at them. And they've dismantled all the safety valves (such as the Left), so they no longer know it's going to go to or come from. See their utter helplessness re. Brexit.

Of course, they will always have reacted like Field. They hate, absolutely hate, the likes of us turning up at their jollies.

This disgust just has a extra dash of fear liberally sprinkled on top.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Exposing the violence inherent in the system. It's got quite a pedigree.

First person to post that Monty Python and the Holy Grail skit gets their inbox spammed with pictures of things with tiny holes.

 

[Pickman's model]

There is a genuine degree of fear of the mob creeping into the political class. Even in their bubble they're seeing the anger all around them, in previously 'safe spaces' such as Question Time they're witnessing a real visceral rage directed at them. And they've dismantled all the safety valves (such as the Left), so they no longer know it's going to go to or come from. See their utter helplessness re. Brexit.

Of course, they will always have reacted like Field. They hate, absolutely hate, the likes of us turning up at their jollies.

This disgust just has a extra dash of fear liberally sprinkled on top.

and this is before the mob's really given them cause for fear

 

[Wilf]

No-one's surprised, and few long-term activists think "rights" is a thing when the State decides otherwise, but tbh I think this misses the reason why hammering the point as much as possible is done:

1. It highlights to people who don't already think of the State and its elites as fundamentally violent that their perspective of a civilised democracy run by reasonable people is at odds with the actual behaviour of that State and its elites. When it happens often and publicly enough, that does have an impact on public perception over time.
   
2. It increases the likelihood that there will be at least some consequences for such behaviour, even if that mostly comes in the form of a liberal dressing down, some unpleasant bureaucratic browbeating and a hit to the career path. Maybe that'll change behaviour, maybe it won't, but my hunch is that there's a lot of Mark Fields out there who behave in public because they don't like the hassle they'd face for acting out.

Oh yeah, absolutely, hit him with all you've got, push for a prosecution, show him up, highlight that quote of his about violence against women. Just have a realistic rather than liberal view of the state as you do it.

 

[Rivendelboy]

I agree with this in the sense of how you think about protests. If you get hit on a protest by cops or a scumbag MP, you shouldn't wail and moan on the grounds of some abstract right to peaceful protest. If you think the state and ruling class are violent, don't be surprised when they are. They are your enemies, that's the point, not friends who can be persuaded to act decently.

That's an aside, not really related to this case. I've not heard the woman speak about it or seen Greenpeace's take on it. And none of that is to deny the MP is a misogynistic scumbag and deserves everything he (isn't likely) to get.

And it revealed the ugly face of the dominant culture

 

[chilango]

And then strung up by the coat tails of their tuxedos.

It was black tie. There shouldnt be coat tails, that's white tie.

What did they teach you in school eh Dillers?

Cummerbunds would do the job.

 

[existentialist]

There is a genuine degree of fear of the mob creeping into the political class. Even in their bubble they're seeing the anger all around them, in previously 'safe spaces' such as Question Time they're witnessing a real visceral rage directed at them. And they've dismantled all the safety valves (such as the Left), so they no longer know it's going to go to or come from. See their utter helplessness re. Brexit.

Of course, they will always have reacted like Field. They hate, absolutely hate, the likes of us turning up at their jollies.

This disgust just has a extra dash of fear liberally sprinkled on top.

About the only possible use of the word 'liberally' available in this context

 

[FridgeMagnet]

The Mail's immediate smear campaign has revealed the appalling fact that (checks notes) she has 31 rabbits.

Very exact number, that.

 

[andysays]

I agree with this in the sense of how you think about protests. If you get hit on a protest by cops or a scumbag MP, you shouldn't wail and moan on the grounds of some abstract right to peaceful protest. If you think the state and ruling class are violent, don't be surprised when they are. They are your enemies, that's the point, not friends who can be persuaded to act decently.

That's an aside, not really related to this case. I've not heard the woman speak about it or seen Greenpeace's take on it. And none of that is to deny the MP is a misogynistic scumbag and deserves everything he (isn't likely) to get.

This was an XR protest, wasn't it? They, as an organisation, seem not to regard the state as inherently violent.

At least one individual member may have a different view this morning.

ETA no, it was Greenpeace, my mistake...

 

[newbie]

It was black tie. There shouldnt be coat tails, that's white tie.

What did they teach you in school eh Dillers?

Cummerbunds would do the job.

There was a tory on the radio complaining she wasn't wearing a collar. A properly dressed oik could have been ejected without the neck grip, apparently.

 

[StoneRoad]

The Mail's immediate smear campaign has revealed the appalling fact that (checks notes) she has 31 rabbits.

Very exact number, that.

Wonder when they last counted, given the rabbit's reputation for fecundity
/gets coat

 

[Kaka Tim]

This was an XR protest, wasn't it? They, as an organisation, seem not to regard the state as inherently violent.

At least one individual member may have a different view this morning.

ETA no, it was Greenpeace, my mistake...

greenpeace not XR

 

[Sasaferrato]

And that look on his face wasn't the look of someone "reacting" - it was the posturing look of someone confident in his righteous purpose.

His response was very curious.

He went out of his way to grab the woman, she was making her way behind him, not interacting with him in any way.

It will be very disappointing if he is not charged with at least common assault. IIRC, the injured party does not have to make a complaint to the police in order that he be charged.

At the risk of bringing feminist wrath down on me, I have never struck or manhandled a woman in my life. I was brought up to believe it is not something that is ever acceptable.

 

[Kaka Tim]

i wonder what would have happened if one her fellow protestors had physically intervened against our have a go hero?

 

[Pickman's model]

At the risk of bringing feminist wrath down on me, I have never struck or manhandled a woman in my life.

i don't think that you'll bring down feminist wrath on you for never having hit or manhandled a woman, not when there are so many things you've said.

 

[Kaka Tim]

or if she'd have managed to back-heel the fucker right in the bollocks.