We are a nation of animal lovers. But that does not alter the distaste ordinary British people feel for activists who blithely announce that their violent vandalism is a legitimate response to lawful calf-trading. The cause of animal rights is not advanced by scenes of disorder in the media. Only those who seek to restrict personal liberty in our society can rejoice.
In a liberal democracy, political violence damages both the causes it claims to champion and the system of rights and responsibilities which tolerates lawful protest. Regrettably, the violence which has taken place in the name of animal rights at Shoreham harbour is not isolated. It vividly recalls larger disturbances that have erupted out of peaceful opposition. Last year, Park Lane became a battlefield on which police clashed with protesters against the Criminal Justice Bill. The year before, south London was the scene of bloody confrontation between police and hooligans determined to provoke far-right activists in their headquarters. Before that much of central London was smashed up during riots against the poll tax.
None of this is acceptable in our political culture. Indeed, the peaceful organisers of such protests almost always lament their violent ending. They invoke Britain's glorious tradition of lawful protest. They rightly distinguish between the disturbances caused by a small band of determined troublemakers and the legitimate actions of the majority of law-abiding protesters. Last night, Compassion in World Farming, which had staged a peaceful two-month campaign at Shoreham, abandoned plans for any further demonstrations in response to the violence. Other animal rights groups which wish to distance themselves from the disorder should follow this responsible lead.
Britain's political system allows the representation of all points of view. Those who go outside do not deserve concessions, even if they do win airtime on national television by the nature of their actions. The ability to muster thousands of people to run riot on the streets of London may impress the cameras; but it is no mandate within an electorate of millions.
Peaceful protest plays a respectable part in our political culture. But the forms of direct action increasingly endorsed by some of the most established campaign groups deserve no such respect. Claims of desperation lose their political force when they become routine as they have in this age of obsessive single-issue lobbying. The incidents at Shoreham, Hyde Park and elsewhere show that direct action can easily degenerate into aggression. Disorder of this kind should be condemned unequivocally.
