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samdalefox's review
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
4.25
This is a hugely important book for anyone interested in 1) protest, 2) police reform or abolition, and 3) UK politics. It deserves to be much more widely read. The book is written by Matt Foot (an experienced criminal defence solicitor) and Morag Livingstone (an experienced investigative journalist). The book covers the topic of policing protest in the UK from the 1980s through to 2019. It focuses on a different protest in each chapter, working in chronology from the 80s to the modern day, highlighting changing attitude within the law, the policing manual, the public, and the media to protest. It covers controversial topics such as the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, The Territorial Support Group (TSG), Special Patrol Group (SPG), and police tactics such as spy cops and Kettling.
What makes the book particuarly powerful is not only the experienced analysis of the writers, but the way they meticulously reference from credible sources, even stating in shocking cases where certain documents cannot be referenced or analysd because they have not yet been made public i.e., The police's The Public Order Manual, which has never been ratified by Parliament. Many of the examples (again, all evidenced properly) highlight that we have a corrupt policeforce, government, and judiciary system that supports the capitalist class (land owners, press barons, and the interests of rich people) and actively suppresses protest.
There are plenty of examples of 'old boys' classist and racist behaviour. There are no examples where the police, judges, or government officials experience consequences for their actions. However, there are plenty of protester who have experienced life long injustices, injuries, and in some cases, death from the disproportionately violent action/inaction of these people in positions of power. We must remember these examples as the tactics of protest develops. We must continue to ask what role the police should play, if any, in civil society. Who are they protecting and from what? Who controls them and for whose benefit.
A summary of chapters/protests covered:
Part I - Thatcher
What makes the book particuarly powerful is not only the experienced analysis of the writers, but the way they meticulously reference from credible sources, even stating in shocking cases where certain documents cannot be referenced or analysd because they have not yet been made public i.e., The police's The Public Order Manual, which has never been ratified by Parliament. Many of the examples (again, all evidenced properly) highlight that we have a corrupt policeforce, government, and judiciary system that supports the capitalist class (land owners, press barons, and the interests of rich people) and actively suppresses protest.
There are plenty of examples of 'old boys' classist and racist behaviour. There are no examples where the police, judges, or government officials experience consequences for their actions. However, there are plenty of protester who have experienced life long injustices, injuries, and in some cases, death from the disproportionately violent action/inaction of these people in positions of power. We must remember these examples as the tactics of protest develops. We must continue to ask what role the police should play, if any, in civil society. Who are they protecting and from what? Who controls them and for whose benefit.
A summary of chapters/protests covered:
Part I - Thatcher
- Warrington 1983
- Orgreave 1984
- Stonehenge 1985
- Wapping 1987
- Anti-Poll tax protest 1990
Part II - Major
- Welling 1993
- Park Lane 1994
Part III - New Labour (Blair and Brown)
- May Day protest 2001
- G8 Gelneagles 2005
- G20 protest 2009
Part IV - Austerity (Coalition onwards)
- Student fees protest 2010
- State of play (more current events)
Some favourite quotes
"If you believe in a police force operating in a democracy, they must operate within the law, otherwise you do not have policing by consent; you have a different form of policing" - DCC Readhead
"The police can call on the army to support them in peacetime under a process known as MACP, Military Aid to the Civil Power. They had done so overtly in ‘no less than 36 industrial disputes since 1945".
As ‘Thatcher’s Britain’ becomes more unpleasant, more violent and more brutal, there are those in authority who see increased use of the police as the remedy to social problems and industrial disputes. They want to transform the nature of the police service and to escalate its use of force … Instead of the neighbourhood bobby or the citizen in uniform, we are to have a paramilitary force to suppress the symptoms of social stress caused by Government policy. - Ron Leighton MP
"To some extent it is arguable that following the student tuition fees demonstration of 2010 the state achieved its aim. Over the next decade there was no mass protest on the same scale that involved confrontation with the police. However, more recently, mass movements have grown around wider social issues challenging the devastation of the environment, racism and sexism. The response of the police and the state to these movements has been no less significant in suppressing dissent."...
"Over the years police and government have often justified robust policing on the basis they were dealing with a violent minority – but by 2019, peaceful protests had become the subject of large-scale police operations"...
"This state creep was followed by a move towards totalitarianism with the introduction in 2021 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, including sweeping provisions that can outlaw any assemblies and processions deemed ‘noisy’ or which might cause ‘serious unease, alarm or distress."
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