Nottinghamshire police in eco protest training with MoD

It appears that Nottinghamshire police officers have recently been involved in a major exercise with the Ministry of Defence aimed at training officers in how to deal with major public order offences.

More than 300 police officers from ten different forces were involved in what is described on the Ministry of Defence’s web site as being: “the largest public order exercise ever to have taken place at the MDP’s headquarters in Wethersfield, Essex.”

It was the first time that the Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) had been asked to host the exercise which is held annually by the members of the Eastern Region Public Order Working Group which consists of police forces from Essex, Hertfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and the MDP. Nottinghamshire and Northamptonshire police officers also attended.

Chief Inspector Chris Yates, of the Operational Support Unit (South), said: “Each year a planning team with representatives from each force identifies and agrees a topical theme for the exercise and venue for the exercise to take place. This year the theme was based around climate change and the associated protest activity. The fundamental objectives of the event were to test and evaluate the interoperability of common public order tactics between forces and to test the resilience of the command structure and of individual commanders.” (whatever that means…)

The role of the 150 protesters for the event was taken by MDP recruits, staff at the MOD Police and Guarding Agency Headquarters and further education students from Essex.

So why, I wonder, was the Nottinghamshire police force invited to take part in such an exercise. An acknowledgement of the growing strength of the environmental protest movement in the county or because someone felt they needed the extra practice?

UPDATE: Just picked up this story from yesterday’s Evening Post, that the police have charged one person with conspiracy following their heavy-handed arrest of 114 people in Sneinton in April of this year. Having already said that they will bring no charges against over half of those picked up at the Iona School, they are clearly looking to get a better result when Climate Camp protestors target Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station on October 16th and 17th.

So that’s what they’ve been practising for.

Weekend in Tenerife or future of the planet?

Forgive me if I don’t get too excited about the news that budget airline Jet2.com will soon be operating from East Midlands airport.

Of course the creation of 250 jobs is good for the region (assuming they go to people in the region and that the new staff don’t commute from elsewhere) but the arrival of yet another budget airline which will doubtless encourage  more people to fly further or more often (or both) is a disaster for our struggling environment. 

With flights to Tenerife for £60 and to Sharm El Sheikh for around £80, we could see the advent of stag and hen weekends moving from Europe to sunnier climes and I’m sure many people who have endured the summer in the UK this year (probably on the Nottingham Riviera) will be tempted to run for the sun if the price is right.

But  I couldn’t disagree more with Penny Coates, managing director at East Midlands Airport, when she says: “The news that Jet2.com will open a brand new operation from East Midlands Airport next year is extremely encouraging for the airport and the region as a whole”, and that the news is “a positive indicator for the future”.

Commercially, of course, she is right (and this is obviously all she’s paid to think about) but in terms of the extra CO2 these new flights will generate – joining the emissions from Ryanair, BMI Baby and Easy Jet who already fly from EMA – and the contribution these make to accelerating climate change, this development is not a positive indicator but a very negative one.

At some point, we have to bite the bullet and accept that short term economic gain that brings long term environmental damage in its wake is something the planet can no longer afford.

We plough the fields…

Regular readers will know that I have a soft spot for environmental issues (no, not a melting iceberg in the Antarctic…) and that I am a fan of the Transition Towns movement, which is very well represented by a small but dedicated band of people in various parts of Nottinghamshire. So my interest was aroused by news of a forthcoming event and I felt that it needed sharing.

Following the apparent success of last year’s first Urban Harvest Festival (which, I must admit, completely passed me by), Transition Nottingham invites everyone to celebrate this year’s crop at Green’s Mill in Sneinton on Sunday 27th September.

The festival is part of ‘Season Nottingham’ – a year round programme of events promoting positive, local and seasonal solutions to the ecological and economic challenges we face in Nottingham as we try to feed ourselves and our families.

Clare Davies, inspiration behind the festival says: ‘despite grim forecasts for the weather and worse for the economy, our gardens and allotments are starting to overflow with goodies – let’s celebrate the abundance and learn how to put it to tasty use in building Nottingham’s food security.’

This year, the Urban Harvest Festival will focus on creative, fun and tasty things to do with the harvest.

Activities will include cooking and preserve-making demonstrations, apple pressing and making a smoothie using a bike (yes, I know it sounds whacky but I’ve seen it done; it’s fun) plus ideas about how to turn your fruit and veg surplus into something a bit stronger…….!  There will also be the serious message of  how Peak Oil and climate change will affect future harvests and how you can get involved with Transition Nottingham.

And, as if that wasn’t enough, there will be competitions, kids’ activities, stalls loaded with local produce for sale, music from local performers, and a barter area where you can swap your prize carrots for a pot of jam.

And it’s all free!

I’ll see you there. I’ll be the one with the enormous marrow… ooooerrrr!!

West Bridgford in transition

Want to do something about global warming but don’t know your photo-voltaics from your ground source heat pump or your CHP from your LCD? Well this could be the event for you then…

Transition West Bridgford, in association with Transition Nottingham, will be holding a free exhibition of renewable and sustainable technologies on the Croquet Lawn in Central Avenue, West Bridgford on Saturday 29th August from 10.00am till 3.00pm.  The aim of the exhibition is to help you reduce your domestic carbon footprint and your energy bills. 

Technologies on display will include solar thermal for hot water, solar PV to generate electricity from the sun, air and ground source heat pumps, domestic wind turbines and domestic combined heat and power as well as internal and external wall cladding.    Information and advice will also be on hand to explain grants that are available as well as an opportunity to calculate your personal carbon footprint. 

One not to be missed if you really do take climate change seriously. But, if you’re going, travel by foot, cycle or public transport. Don’t turn up in your gas-guzzling 4 x 4, or you could end up as part of someone’s external wall cladding.

No charges against Sneinton ‘Eco protestors’

Well, well, well… 67 of the 114 protestors arrested at the Iona School in Sneinton in April are to face no charges. That’s no charges. Nothing.

Is this a sight we're going to have to get more used to seeing?

More than 200 police officers raided the school, smashed it up and arrested 114 people in circumstances that would have done justice to an operation to capture Osama bin Laden. The operation cost £700,000 at the time, a figure that has no doubt risen since then due to the costs of the ongoing investigation into the activities of the alleged environmental protesters arrested in the early hours of 13th April.

Asked by the BBC to explain the police action and why no charges are to be brought against the 67 protesters, a police spokesman said: “We feel this was going to be an unlawful action, they were arrested on conspiracy to commit criminal damage and aggravated trespass and that’s what we still believe was going to take place on that day.”

So the police believed that a crime was going to be committed; they felt that this would be an unlawful action.

As I said at the time, this raises a very disturbing spectre of the police engaging in ‘future-crime’ predictions based, it would seem, on flimsy evidence and unfounded suspicion. This is very worrying for anyone who values the right to legitimate protest, free speech and free association.

I hope they have apologised to the people they arrested. Now they should apologise to taxpayers for wasting their money.

Don’t hold your breath…

Update: 12th July – This operation was featured this week on the BBC’s Panorama programme under the title of ‘Whatever Happened to People Power’. It was described as the biggest pre-emptive police operation ever.