This article appeared in New Europe on 16 March 2009, and is an rewritten and updated version of an earlier piece
Change protestor throws cup of green custard over Lord Mandelson
There was much schadenfreude at the sight of former trade Commissioner, and current Secretary of State for Business, Peter Mandelson being covered in custard by climate change protestor, Leila Deen last week. Amongst the press coverage, the best headline about this incident was in the UK Daily Mail.. Their delicious lead was “Police to investigate Mandelson ’sliming’”. “A long overdue enquiry”, muttered a Commission Official, who didn’t want to be named.
Deen was representing a group called Plane Stupid, and one can only wonder what names they rejected before choosing this one in order to campaign against airport expansion. They use a variety of ‘direct action’ stunts to bring attention to their aim of halting climate change. Earlier in the week the keen Deen furthered her cause by sounding a klaxon horn whilst Geoff Hoon, UK Secretary of State for Transport and ex-Minister for Defence was speaking. Like the British Army, Hoon has also has both supporters and enemies, but is this really the best way of taking part in politics?
Talking freely
It is more than likely that Deen, who tried to silence an elected politician, is in favour of free speech. But, of course, only free to people who have her approval. This is one of the curious points about advocates of ‘direct action’. In her defence, she says Mandelson is unelected. Well, Mandelson has previously been elected by the people of Hartlepool and is in his current position at the request of an elected government. Precisely who elected Leila Deen? Who elected Plane Stupid to represent them?
More questions than answers
An email to their Press Officer should definitely answer some questions:
Could you answer a couple of questions about your protests?
1. You say “Plane Stupid has no hierarchy or central leadership, but is instead made up of small ‘affinity groups’ who organise themselves.” Who do you represent? How do those who you represent play a part in your policy and decision making?
2. On your website you say “Plane Stupid welcomes actions in its name, provided they are non-violent and accountable and help further the struggle against airport expansion and greenhouse gas emissions from aviation.” What do you mean by accountable? To whom are they accountable? Who decides what is accountable and by what process? How do you measure accountability?
Their reply (in full) was “No, sorry”.
They’re not responding, it turns out, because of the earlier “criticism” of their actions. According to them, this made the investigating journalist “not merely a non-supporter, but an enemy”. This is the zero-sum politics of the self appointed protectors of the globe. It also means they don’t have to answer awkward questions.
Two other signs are a pomposity and a complete lack of humour. This is Ms Deen, justifying her actions in the Guardian newspaper, “Nothing exemplifies this style of government better than Mandelson’s involvement in the Heathrow decision. Not merely unelected but wholly unelectable, Mandelson is a cuckoo in the nest of British democracy, bullying the other chicks into serving his malevolent corporatist agenda.”
It could have been worse
Mandleson got off lightly. Politicians would rather have custard in their face than Ms Deen’s river of cliché. What did this do for the cause? Nothing. All it did was raise the profile of Plane Stupid and of its protagonist.
Sadly, some seem to approve of the action, purely on the grounds that they dislike Mandelson. It’s either OK to assault politicians or it isn’t. To physically attack politicians will have the obvious effect of them being forced behind a security screen and make them more distant, more unapproachable from the people. Other environmental campaigners, such as Greenpeace, claim they have a different approach to direct action, saying that they use their membership to organise protests around a clear message, rather than an individual deciding to do something spontaneously, with no authorisation or accountability.
Brussels has civilised Mandelson. He arrived with his usual panache, his joyful spinning and smearing. Within a week he was in deep, deep trouble as EU politics are much more sophisticated than the rough and tumble of the UK. In Brussels, it’s about consensus, about coalition building, not the “Yah! Boo!” screeching of the UK’s ‘Animal House’ of Commons.
Whenever journalists meet politicians, no matter what they feel about their party or policy, they deal with them politely and talk to them. Usually, they respond well and can have a useful and interesting discussions and they do reveal what they really think and can be very open indeed. Some of these conversations are ‘off the record’ but valuable nonetheless.
It also means that journalists can talk to politicians in future. Can anyone see Plane Stupid having many high level meetings in future? Could this incident be used by politicians to hide from campaigners?
