BBC.
Yes, policing demo's does cost money, though that alone should never be an excuse to stop a public right, which is what the BBC seem to incline towards whenever this subject comes up over the EDL. It's quite notable that nowhere on the BBC site is there any mention of the costs of policing the London anti-cuts protests or the student fees protests where a hell of a lot of damage was done and far more violence committed by protesters than at any EDL demo. Of course those demo's were a lot larger than the EDL demo's but still it's plain that when leftists and (so called) anarchists riot against government policies the BBC will deliberately fudge the issue of costs. For instance in 2009 the cost of policing the Tamil protests was £8 million and the cost of the G20 £7.2 million As the EDL space their protests around the country they aren't hitting any police authority on a regular basis and the right to protest is enshrined in Law though as a fellow blogger "The fuel injected moose" who was at the demo (as an innocent abroad) put it...Policing demonstrations by the English Defence (EDL) and opposing groups in Blackburn could cost about £500,000, it has been estimated.
The estimated cost, by Lancashire Police Authority, is something the force can "ill afford", its chairman said.
On Saturday, about 2,000 EDL supporters gathered on Northgate with about 500 rival protesters at a separate site.
Twelve people were arrested during the demonstrations.
Some shop owners said the event had led to a drop in trading.
And so we have the BBC also trying to tighten the screws as to the cost of such demo's too. I wonder how long it will take before a demo gets banned simply on account of costing too much? I suspect it will be sooner rather than later.If nothing else, we still have the right to protest in Britain. However, all this gave me the impression that they are trying to make it so difficult that we just won't bother.
5 annotations:
In defence of the BBC, it should be said that they are not all that left of centre when it comes to awarding themselves outrageous salaries. Perhaps they don’t actually believe in their left wing posturing at all. Perhaps it’s just to deflect criticism of their remuneration. Just for a laugh, why doesn’t someone tell senior bankers that praising Karl Marx would do wonders for their image?
Gosh, are some people still accusing the BBC of being leftist? How quaint. I suppose it all balances out when you have other people accusing them of being rightist in their coverage of Libya.
Anyway, I don't think you can make equal comparisons between the examples you give. London is London. There is always money there, be it for transport or policing protests. The government will always see it right.
Lancashire on the other hand, and I speak as a local tax payer, hasn't got a pot to piss in. So there is some local debate, rightly covered by the BBC, as to the cost.
"I wonder how long it will take before a demo gets banned simply on account of costing too much?"
Well if many locals had their way-unless you feel like paying the cost-very soon!
Ah yes, lets ban everything that costs too much, the perfect solution.
Perhaps if Lancashire dropped its translation services and diversity co-ordinators as well as halved the wages of its executives they'd have a bit more money.
Just saying...
I haven't seen any report of the events in order to form an impartial view as to whether it was the EDL who were responsible for the trouble, or others using the EDL as an excuse for making trouble themselves.
Remember that with the Student demonstration and the TUC demonstration, we are told it was not the Students or the TUC members who caused the trouble and damage but "outsiders" using the demonstrations as an excuse for their own ends.
Why does this rule not also apply to EDL demonstrations?
Most of the trouble at an EDL demonstration comes from those who oppose the EDL, there were some arrests to be sure but most seem to have been opponents who had infiltrated the demo and were dealt with by the EDL themselves, rather than the police.
Post a Comment