Thursday, January 27, 2005
THE UNUSUAL SUSPECTS
Hunt supporters hope their legal challenge will stop the ban due to start next month. Some say they will ignore it if it is introduced. What is it that makes otherwise law-abiding citizens decide to break the law?
The clashes between police and pro-hunt protesters in Parliament Square last year took one man who was present back 20 years.
Ex-miner John, who hunts with terriers and lurchers in south Wales, remembers the violence of the picket lines during the national miners' strike, in which nearly 10,000 miners were arrested.
Both issues have provoked people who usually respect the law to stand up and disobey the authorities.
"To say that makes me feel absolutely terrible, as it would any citizen because you're giving up your personal liberty. My first duty is to my family and they're totally supportive and back me 100%."
The police are unlikely to prosecute because it will be difficult to obtain video evidence of the hound, the fox and the huntsman, says Gerald, 28, a huntsman in Hertfordshire intent on flouting the ban.
But that hasn't stopped him contemplating time behind bars.
"They're not going to send me to Brixton, are they? It will be a low-key prison because it's not a hardline criminal offence, so it won't be a lot different to boarding school.
"I'm quite prepared to go to prison for what I believe in and I believe what we're doing is right."
The Countryside Alliance advocates working within and not outside the new law and some farmers have already started a campaign of disruption, such as withdrawing permission for military training on their land.
But John, Gerald and hundreds of others say they plan to take direct action beyond what is lawful. If they do stand as criminals eyeball to eyeball against the government over hunting, they will historically be in unlikely company.
Anarchy is when the state refuses people the right to civil disobedience or when people disobey laws and nothing happens
Tommy Sheridan MSP The miners eventually backed down, broken and demoralised. Six years later another wave of protests came, this time over the poll tax. It sparked refusals to pay and riots, but on this occasion it was the government who conceded defeat.
Tony Blair's turn came four years ago, when fuel protesters almost brought the nation to a standstill by blocking supplies. They stayed mainly within the law, except a few arrests for obstruction or intimidation.
Among the poll tax law-breakers was Tommy Sheridan, the former leader of the Scottish Socialist Party who was twice jailed over his resistance to it. And although in full support of the hunting ban, he backs their right to break the law.
"As long as they present their case via civil disobedience and no violence is involved, then I've sympathy with their expression in principle. I've no regrets about what I did.
"The poll tax was a bad law and had to be changed and just like those who have broken laws in the past to change the laws, we were successful."
Civil disobedience is a human being's right, says Mr Sheridan, but you also have to accept the state has a right to imprison you.
"I don't think it leads to anarchy but a strong democracy. Anarchy is when the state refuses people the right to civil disobedience or when people disobey laws and nothing happens."
Dr Roy Bailey, a clinical psychologist, says there have been times in the past 20 years when individual frustrations have been harnessed into something collective and potent.
"There's coal, poll and more recently fuel. These are historical moments that touch this idea a law might not be fully thought through and rightly or wrongly we think it's unfair.
"These are otherwise law-abiding people who every other day of the week are getting in their car, digging coal and paying their taxes. What triggers it is a complex question."
He thinks it could be a culmination of discontent on a number of issues or a consequence of protesting through the official channels but not getting anywhere. Either way, it may actually be healthy for democracy.
"Society depends on individuals to feel that their voices are being heard and something is being done about it.
"The question we are left with is, is there a democracy robust enough to assimilate it? So far, we're not doing badly."
The clashes between police and pro-hunt protesters in Parliament Square last year took one man who was present back 20 years.
Ex-miner John, who hunts with terriers and lurchers in south Wales, remembers the violence of the picket lines during the national miners' strike, in which nearly 10,000 miners were arrested.
Both issues have provoked people who usually respect the law to stand up and disobey the authorities.
-
The arguments for and against hunting are passionately held on both sides - but John is one of those who feels so strongly that his side is right that he is ready to go to jail.
"I've not even had a parking ticket in my life but I'm prepared to go to jail and that's not an idle boast. I will not pay any fines.
When the Law was Broken
- 1984: Miners' strike over pit closures leads to violence on picket lines, 9,778 miners arrested
-
1990: Poll tax deemed unfair and sparks non-payments and riots, hundreds of arrests -
2000: Fuel blockades over rising prices nearly bring UK to a standstill, handful of arrests -
2004: Pensioner Elizabeth Winkfield one of several to refuse to pay part of her council tax (case ongoing)
"To say that makes me feel absolutely terrible, as it would any citizen because you're giving up your personal liberty. My first duty is to my family and they're totally supportive and back me 100%."
The police are unlikely to prosecute because it will be difficult to obtain video evidence of the hound, the fox and the huntsman, says Gerald, 28, a huntsman in Hertfordshire intent on flouting the ban.
But that hasn't stopped him contemplating time behind bars.
"They're not going to send me to Brixton, are they? It will be a low-key prison because it's not a hardline criminal offence, so it won't be a lot different to boarding school.
"I'm quite prepared to go to prison for what I believe in and I believe what we're doing is right."
The Countryside Alliance advocates working within and not outside the new law and some farmers have already started a campaign of disruption, such as withdrawing permission for military training on their land.
But John, Gerald and hundreds of others say they plan to take direct action beyond what is lawful. If they do stand as criminals eyeball to eyeball against the government over hunting, they will historically be in unlikely company.
Anarchy is when the state refuses people the right to civil disobedience or when people disobey laws and nothing happens
Tommy Sheridan MSP The miners eventually backed down, broken and demoralised. Six years later another wave of protests came, this time over the poll tax. It sparked refusals to pay and riots, but on this occasion it was the government who conceded defeat.
Tony Blair's turn came four years ago, when fuel protesters almost brought the nation to a standstill by blocking supplies. They stayed mainly within the law, except a few arrests for obstruction or intimidation.
Among the poll tax law-breakers was Tommy Sheridan, the former leader of the Scottish Socialist Party who was twice jailed over his resistance to it. And although in full support of the hunting ban, he backs their right to break the law.
"As long as they present their case via civil disobedience and no violence is involved, then I've sympathy with their expression in principle. I've no regrets about what I did.
"The poll tax was a bad law and had to be changed and just like those who have broken laws in the past to change the laws, we were successful."
Civil disobedience is a human being's right, says Mr Sheridan, but you also have to accept the state has a right to imprison you.
"I don't think it leads to anarchy but a strong democracy. Anarchy is when the state refuses people the right to civil disobedience or when people disobey laws and nothing happens."
Dr Roy Bailey, a clinical psychologist, says there have been times in the past 20 years when individual frustrations have been harnessed into something collective and potent.
"There's coal, poll and more recently fuel. These are historical moments that touch this idea a law might not be fully thought through and rightly or wrongly we think it's unfair.
"These are otherwise law-abiding people who every other day of the week are getting in their car, digging coal and paying their taxes. What triggers it is a complex question."
He thinks it could be a culmination of discontent on a number of issues or a consequence of protesting through the official channels but not getting anywhere. Either way, it may actually be healthy for democracy.
"Society depends on individuals to feel that their voices are being heard and something is being done about it.
"The question we are left with is, is there a democracy robust enough to assimilate it? So far, we're not doing badly."
