By Sheila Mckenzie-
Dawn Butler’s support of extinction rebellion’s obstructive protests is a betrayal of Parliament. She should no better.
The unacceptable protests that saw them block roads and obstruct the printing and distribution of newspapers over the weekend was widely condemned, but Ms Butler
Dawn Butler’s stubborn support for Extinction Rebellion calls for condemnation after she stood by her tweet praising their protest was removed “accidentally”.
The Labour MP came under fire after she applauded the activists for their “excellent work” in blocking newspaper presses on Friday evening. The Times, The Sun, The Daily Telegraph and the Evening Standard, were all affected by the protests.
The gathering of groups in numbers including protests, are currently illegal under Covid-19 laws, and were condemned during the Black Lives Matters(BLM) Protests that took place in the Uk and many parts of the world. Those protests were sparked by a more serious incident after a video of police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck went viral.
As bad an awful as the acts of the U.S police officer, now facing a murder charge, BLM Marches were criticised by government officials at the time, in line with Covid-19 rules.
The protests organised by around 100 Extinction Rebellion activists was different, and not sparked by any recent development. They involved the blockade of the Hertfordshire plant, thereby obstructing free press, on the alleged grounds that the news outlets had failed to report on the climate & ecological emergency, and consistently manipulated the truth to suit their own agendas.
Prime Minister, Boris Johnson’s announcement that a free press must never be obstructed in through protests, was as clear and undeniable as possible.
A tweet sent on Saturday morning by Ms Butler, in which she said: “Bravo Extinction Rebellion. Excellent work…” It was eventually deleted, but the Mp later said the deletion was accidental.
Speaking on Tuesday, Ms Butler said the tweet had been removed by accident and that she continued to support the group.
“There is a story behind that, that tweet was deleted by accident, but I don’t want to distract from that discussion,” she told BBC’s Politics Live.
“The thing is I’ve boycotted The Sun and continue to boycott The Sun, I won’t ever buy the Daily Mail.
“Of course people have the right to buy those tabloid press but I would never do.”
Original Comments
Ms Butler told PoliticsHome, that she would “stand by” her original comments because the group were “on the right side of history”. Her comments came in response to press reports that she had deleted the post in which she expressed support for the protesters
“I stand by my original comments and support Extinction Rebellion,” she said.
“The protests occurred on the very same week that the Conservative government chose to hire Tony Abbott, a known climate denier, to its Board of Trade.
“This government has shown that we cannot trust them when it comes to tackling climate change, so I applaud Extinction Rebellion for raising awareness for what is the greatest threat facing our planet.”
She added: “Direct action can at times be uncomfortable, as we have seen in the past with the Suffragettes, Civil Rights campaigners and others however I believe, like these groups, Extinction Rebellion are on the right side of history.
“I am deeply opposed to any attempts to proscribe the group, reports of which should be concerning to us all. We cannot allow the Government to shut down the important right to peaceful protest in our country.
“I will continue to support Extinction Rebellion, as well as other groups who are campaigning for strong action to tackle the very real and immediate threat of climate change, to protect our planet and future generations.”
Ignorant
Media analyst, Yvonne Thompson, told The Eye Of Media.Com: ”This is an ignorant position for her to take as an Mp. She seems to forget that she is a member of parliament and has a duty to uphold the law of the land. In times of Covid-19, Ms Butler is expected to aware that protests are really meant to be frowned against because of social distancing rules. Encouraging protests conducted by a group bent on obstructing the printing of newspapers is not something she should be publicly supporting. It has no bearing that she does not support the Sun or Daily Mail Newspapers-it is completely besides the point”.
Ms Butler is entitled to support Extinction Rebellion of she wants to, but not on an occasion where they are obstructing the free press, and especially while Covid -19 laws restricting numbers of people meeting remain active. The Labour Mp may have wanted to take a swipe at the government and oppose them, but this was the wrong time to do so.
As a member of parliament she is expected to uphold the law at all times, providing no excuses for its violation.