Today... a head full of confusion, words in transcripts that don’t
match up with what me and others thought we understood in court, hindsight
offering a million questions about what I could/should have perhaps done, wonderings
about decisions taken and what caused me to make them, long phone calls and
emails trying to track all that happened, concerns for the wellbeing of dear
friends and family who are feeling the pressure for me and thankfully, a whole
lot of wonderful warmth and support from our movement to get me through... is
how things are going as the next appearance in court is this
coming Friday for the case concerning a 3-week occupation of a proposed
fracking field in 2014.
I would normally be putting dates for the nativity
plays of all the little ones in my calendar at this family-busy time of year…
but instead there’s a big line through 14 days of December (9th to 23rd)
that is reserved with the word “incarceration?” Everyone in this campaign knows all too well, how much it steals from us – not just the
precious time but more importantly the theft of happy head-space, frivolity and
lighter moods. BUT… in light of what many have gone through at the camps here,
the scenes at Standing Rock in Dakota and the lengthy imprisonments, penalties
and deaths of activists in Latin America and elsewhere… I know it could be far
worse.
Of course I just wish this court case wasn't happening.
I expect there were a multitude of other ways to have handled it and maybe
ended up with other outcomes... I've
received messages and questions like: should I have let my name go forward,
could there have been an appeal, did I know what I was doing… as the answer to
the last question is no, not fully, the others can't really be answered by a
simple yes or no. Acting in defence and opposition to the drilling company
Cuadrilla has been a genuinely unique experience full of ups and downs, packed
with unknowns, mostly done on gut feeling and opportunity seizing - everything
that happens in this campaign is a new and unknown experience, nothing prepares
you for it and yes… I know I don’t always get it right.
I put my name forward only because I believed there was
danger if I didn’t. I was told that the case would progress without input from
those who took the action if no-one stepped up and the fear if this happened –
was we could not know who might be implicated (the documents contained clear
images of many at the camp) or if the truth would be told. At the time they
were trying to claim a cow had died, there were camps in a field we’d never
visited and that a milk yield had been impacted – all of this was provably
untrue …if contested.
Right now this case for me is about the immorality and
misuse of the legal system by those with power and money. To run up legal bills
in excess of £55,000 for the 'eviction' of an empty field is clearly motivated
by something other than 'justice'. To apply these costs against a person who is
acting out of obligation to protect their young, is callous, bullying and I
believe done in order to deter other residents from opposing this
government-backed industry. I have spent five years researching the processes
and impacts of the unconventional energy business and am certain that it is
seriously damaging to the health, well-being and future of our children; to
tell me to stand back and let this happen, is to tell me to be negligent of my
responsibilities.
Since getting involved in this campaign, I have spoken
with countless residents in communities where the damage from fracking is
already happening in America, Australia and Canada - scoured as much as I can
of the more than 900+ peer-reviewed studies, lobbied MPs. informed Councillors,
attended hundreds of meetings including those put on by the industry itself and
worked within my community and throughout the country and conclude that our
government is either incompetent or criminal... and yet it is activists/campaigners who end up in court.
The action of camping for 3-weeks in a field (that was
not in use for farming but had been leased to Cuadrilla in
readiness/expectation of winning planning for a drill site) was taken when we
became aware that many of the local residents, particularly the elderly had no
idea just how close the site was to their homes. Our action raised awareness,
provided a place to come and discuss concerns, encouraged an incredible
community to pull together and all in all, achieved everything we set out to
do. When we left (on the date we had publicly said we would), we finger-tip
searched the field and informed the landowner, police, drilling company and
media... the 'eviction' the following day ran up extortionate legal bills that
would inevitably (deliberately?) cause residents to be afraid of objecting.
There is NO option other than to see this through –
money could possibly be found but I reject that as an option as it would mean
next time and next time and next time for each of us and we will never be able
to raise funds enough for all (especially those with smaller networks) and it
would be to accept that this misuse of our legal system is in any way fit to be
called 'justice'. It’s an ugly situation to be in but does shine a light on
this aspect that must have plagued activists forever.
There is also the matter of how distant I feel from
these processes - how removed from insider knowledge - the lack of higher
education and legal training puts people at a huge disadvantage when dealing
with a legal case. At times when I did briefly have a lawyer, they worked hard
to reduce the impact on me as that is their role but I felt like a product not
a participant... just flowing along a well-worn conveyor belt. I was reminded
that this is the law and this is the case and this is how it works.
I know that saying no to paying can get me up to 2
weeks in prison for 'contempt of court' and after that... I'm told they could
keep running this process, incurring higher costs and greater sentences. Where
is 'justice' in this story? How will any of this 'correct' my behaviour? What
in the end is achieved? It's only the exercise of power that makes people realise
how little they have - and how desperately we need each other, in order to have
a chance.
Naturally I have fears over what's to come but as I’m
acting out of my deepest obligation (to protect the young), there truly is
nothing that can be done to make me step off this path and let this dangerous
industry pass. Nor am I willing to concede that this industry can use its power
and wealth to wield our justice system like a weapon against opposition and to
allow harm to come to the children of my community... I sense I am between a rock and a hard place
and there is no way out until the government sees sense or genuine justice
prevails. May be a bit of a *wait xxx
*about the wait:
Since the start, innumerable, incredible people have worked on my behalf – with
and without my awareness of it. Support in comments, messages, hugs and words
of understanding as well as memes, posts, event creation, letters to press , industry and
government, replies on press articles, press releases, offers of help and advice, sofas to sleep on, kind financial help, co-ordination of group-wide responses and so much more – has nourished and sustained me
through this and sincerely, almost made it all worth it.
What adversity does to
good people witnessing it, is to draw out the very best that they are and being
amongst them – the best unknown in this whole thing. Thank you.
<3 span="">
