"Eco-Warriors" at Stanstead

[flip_flop]

If the idiots at Stanstead had caused your holiday flight to be cancelled, on a scale of 1 to 10 how painful would you like their torture to be?

[anotheoldgit]

Well in the first place on this cold and frosty morning and before they arrested them they should have been thoughly wet in their cage with a water cannon.

If a MP can be arrested under the anti-terrorist act, I wonder if they will be charged under the same act, and if so what punishment should be inflicted upon them?

Why couldn't they divert their energies protesting against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?

[daffy654]

These people were airside illegally and should face criminal charges!

[VHG]

In the early 1920s women were campaigning for the vote and they chained themselves to railings, threw themselves under horses, and generally made themselves a pain in the b*m.

They were seen as cranks, but eventually they got the vote and these people are now seen as heroes.

Can you imagine if they took the vote off women today?

20 or 30 years ago people from greenpeace and the the "green" party were campaigning about the envoronment and everyone said they were crackpots.

They were ridiculed in the press, but now the whole world has woken up to the fact that we have a problem with the way we are polluting the earth and issues like climate change, waste management and pollution are seen as major issues.

These early campaigners are now seen as right, raising the profile of pollution like they did.

Maybe in a few years time, when have all realised we cannot keep building more and more airports and longer and longer runways that these people at Stanstead will be seen as right.

[VHG]

This is some of the things women did to get he vote (the suffragetes):

"Suffragettes carried out direct action such as chaining themselves to railings, setting fire to mailbox contents, smashing windows and on occasions setting off bombs. One suffragette, Emily Davison, died after she stepped out in front of the King's horse, Anmer, at the Epsom Derby of 1913. Many of her fellow suffragettes were imprisoned and went on hunger strikes, during which they were restrained and forcibly fed and had reached the height of their campaign by 1912"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffragette

Maybe following your suggestion they should have tortured them as well.

[R1Geezer]

Hey VHG, any bird who wants to tie herself to my railings and suffer a jet movement get's my vote!

[jake-the-peg]

Whilst not endorsing flip-flops position entirely it's wort pointing out there's a huge difference between this and the women's suffrage movement.

In Edwardian Britain Women had no other recourse - they could not vote for a party that would give them the right to representation.

These people do have a vote.

[VHG]

>These people do have a vote.

For most people that is three main choices:

Labour (who are a bit like the Tories and Lib Dems)

Tories (who are a bit like the Labour and Lib Dems)

Lib Dems (who are a bit like the Tories and Labour)

If i want to get out of the EU which of these 3 parties do I vote for?

If I want to reduce immigration which of these parties do I vote for?

Our democratic choice is between these 3 main parties, all of which are pretty much the same.

[anotheoldgit]

There is a vast difference between legal protest and illegal protest.

These idiots could have put lives at risk.

[LoftyLottie]

Good postings VHG. I agree with you entirely. They may be misguided - I don't really know the facts about global warming - however they have made themselves heard. They will be prosecuted and they probably are aware of that too and are prepared. They have not put people's life in danger AOG. No plane would have attempted take off with people on the runway. They have caused delays, inconvenient and annoying but hardly life threatening.

[Octavius]

Whilst you do make a valid point VHG, I can�t help thinking that the Suffragettes might be turning in their graves at the thought of being compared to a handful of eco-protesters calling themselves Plane Stupid.

I would prefer to see them protesting against the constantly rising fares on public transport which is forcing people to go back to their cars as it is potentially cheaper and more reliable. My bus fare has risen twice � by 23% - since 1st January 2008.

[rov1200]

'Plane Stupid' are a well organised group who have shown the government to be two-faced when its comes to global warming. We either cut back our emissions or we dont, no user group should be exempt. Usually there is an alternative using rail. The main user at Stansted is Ryanair and he seems to have a lot of clout as without him the airport would be underused even with 1 runway.

[jno]

I suppose you could protest against it yourself, Octavius, if Plane Stupid are otherwise engaged? Anyway, my last holiday was delayed because the plane had ice on its wings. Whom should I torture?

[The Sherman]

to Rov1200 the em taliban have also proven them selves to be a well organised group who show how two faced our governemnt can be!

Do you also support them?

[LoftyLottie]

The trouble in the UK is that everybody grumbles about everything and nobody gets off their backsides to change anything. At least these people aren't just sitting back and moaning.

[Kromovaracun]

They were seen as cranks, but eventually they got the vote and these people are now seen as heroes.

Nope. The Suffragettes are still seen as cranks. Largely because they weren't just a pain in the bum - they also damaged peoples property and attempted violence against public figures.

The Suffragists and reformers within the Liberal party are largely considered the 'heroes' of that movement

[jno]

Kromovaracun, I was taught at school that the suffragette movement had nothing to do with winning the vote for women - it was granted purely because women had done such a good job in the Great War.

All sounds like establishment hooey to me, I'm afraid; the establishment will never admit that the extremists might have been right all along, and will do all it can retrospectively to credit 'responsible', 'moderate' campaigners whose campaigns would in fact have got nowhere without the extremists putting it on the agenda.