Green activism or public threat? UK cracks down on environmental groups
Environment
To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. Accept Manage my choices
One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Try again
In the UK, the crackdown on environmental activists is becoming ever tighter, with many protesters now jailed for their actions.
© FRANCE 24
02:58
02:58 min
From the show
In the UK, an ongoing crackdown on environmental activists is becoming ever tighter. Those who cause "public nuisance" by sitting on a road to block it, or spraying paint on a building or work of art can now be punished not by a simple fine, but a prison sentence of up to 10 years. It's part of the 2022 Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act. Over the past three years, more than 3,000 members of Just Stop Oil and other groups have been arrested. The British government has justified this crackdown by saying that the groups' actions cost tens of millions of pounds in public spending every year. The Down to Earth team takes a closer look.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
2 hours ago
- Euronews
Security guarantees: Which countries could send troops to Ukraine
European countries are in a rush to finalise security guarantees for Ukraine ahead of a possible meeting between Ukraine's Zelenskyy and Russia's Putin that could take place in the coming weeks. Some 30 countries have been in talks since February as part of a so-called "Coalition of the Willing", with the deployment of a "reassurance force" to deter Russia from any further attacks one of the ideas on the table. "Our Chiefs of Staff have worked on it within the coalition of the willing. Several states are ready to do so, from training to logistics, to a presence in non-hot zones, that is, not on the front line, not in contested territories, but to have a presence of allied forces alongside Ukraine," French President Macron said on Sunday. Donald Trump made it clear on Tuesday that the US will not have boots on the ground but around 10 countries are ready to contribute troops, according to Bloomberg. The Yes Camp The two co-chairs of the Coalition of the Willing, France and the UK, are in. "We are ready to put UK boots on the ground in Ukraine in part to reassure Ukrainians," British Defence Secretary John Healey told the BBC last week. He added that the mission could be to secure air and sea defence and to train the Ukrainian military. The head of the British armed forces, Tony Radakin, was expected to reiterate this willingness to his American counterparts on Wednesday during a visit to Washington. Belgium, as well as Baltic states Lithuania and Estonia, have also said they stand ready to send troops. Dainius Žikevičius, an advisor to Lithuania's president, told the news outlet in an interview released on Sunday that the mission could be similar to the former NATO mission in Afghanistan. Žikevičius added that the number of soldiers is being discussed now, but he did not reveal any numbers. Estonia's Prime Minister Kirsten Michal reaffirmed his willingness to provide troops this week, noting however that "it is important that work continues on the details". The maybes The third Baltic state, Latvia, remains undecided. President Edgars Rinkēvičs said it's to decide on sending troops to Ukraine, and that their decision will depend on the other security guarantees that will be provided. He told regional outlet Delfi that the country will determine its role in the mission after a peace deal is reached and security guarantees are finalised. Sweden's government is also reportedly on the fence and needs further clarification on whether the mission will be about peacekeeping, deterrence or reassurance. The No camp Germany's Foreign Minister, Johann Wadephul, told a podcast on Monday that the country has little capacity to send troops to Ukraine but would instead provide important elements for the security guarantees. Viktor Orbán's government made it clear several times that troops from Hungary will not be deployed to Ukraine and that Budapest will also not supply any military means to its neighbour. 'There are not and will not be any plans to send the Polish military to Ukraine," Poland's Deputy Prime Minister made very clear in a post on X back in May. "Poland is jointly responsible for defending NATO's eastern flank and for providing logistical support to its attacked neighbour, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz also wrote. Similarly, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said back in March that sending Italian troops to Ukraine "is not being planned". Both the Netherlands and Spain have meanwhile said they stand ready to take part in security guarantees to strengthen Ukraine's army but that it did not involve sending troops.
Euronews
3 hours ago
- Euronews
West Bank settlement project approved as IDF begins Gaza City assault
Israel has given final approval for a controversial settlement project in the occupied West Bank in a significant blow to the prospects of Palestinian statehood. Settlement development in E1, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, has been under consideration for more than two decades, but was frozen due to US pressure during previous administrations. The Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal under international law. Last year, the International Court of Justice declared in a landmark ruling that Israel should end settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and end its occupation of those areas, as well as Gaza, as soon as possible. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a former settler leader, cast the approval as a rebuke to Western countries that announced their plans to recognise a Palestinian state in recent weeks. 'The Palestinian state is being erased from the table not with slogans but with actions,' he said on Wednesday. 'Every settlement, every neighbourhood, every housing unit is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea.' Several countries, including the UK and the Netherlands, have in recent weeks moved to sanction Smotrich, as well as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for inciting settler violence against Palestinians and calling for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. In a post on X, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy condemned the approval of the E1 project, calling it "a flagrant breach of international law". Germany's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Josef Hinterseher also condemned the move during a news conference on Wednesday. "The position of the federal government is clear: we strongly reject this approval. The settlement construction violates international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions." The location of E1 is significant because it is one of the last geographical links between the major West Bank cities of Ramallah, in the north, and Bethlehem, in the south. The two cities are 22 kilometres apart, but Palestinians traveling between them must take a wide detour and pass through multiple Israeli checkpoints, spending hours on the journey. The hope was that, in an eventual Palestinian state, the region would serve as a direct link between the cities. Israel's expansion of settlements is part of an increasingly dire reality for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank as the world's attention focuses on the war in Gaza. There have been marked increases in attacks by settlers on Palestinians, evictions from Palestinian towns, Israeli military operations, and checkpoints that choke freedom of movement. Israel military says it has begun Gaza City offensive The Israeli military has announced it has begun the first stage of its planned military offensive to seize the enclave's largest urban centre, Gaza City. Brigadier General Effie Defrin, Israel's military spokesperson, said on Wednesday that "IDF forces are holding the outskirts of Gaza City". Israel is calling up 60,000 reservists as it ramps up fighting in Gaza while negotiators scramble to strike a ceasefire to end the war in Gaza, now nearing its two-year mark. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has blamed a recent breakdown in Gaza ceasefire talks on the decision by some European leaders to recognise Palestinian statehood. Huckabee, who is himself a long-time opponent of Palestinian statehood, said the 'noise that has been made by European leaders recently ... is having the counterproductive effect that they probably think that they want," in an interview with the Associated Press. In a country of fewer than 10 million people, the call-up of reservists is the largest in months and carries economic and political weight. It comes days after hundreds of thousands of Israelis rallied for a ceasefire, and as rights groups warn that an expanded assault could deepen the crisis in the Gaza Strip, where most of the roughly 2 million inhabitants have been displaced, many areas have been reduced to rubble, and the population faces the threat of famine.
France 24
8 hours ago
- France 24
French researcher in Russian jail faces new espionage charge
A French researcher who is serving three years in a Russian prison is now being investigated for espionage, according to a court filing seen by AFP on Wednesday. Documents showed that Laurent Vinatier is facing a new court hearing on August 25 on espionage charges, which carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Vinatier, who worked for a Swiss conflict mediation organisation, is one of a number of Westerners who have been arrested in Russia since diplomatic tensions soared over Ukraine. The French government has demanded that Moscow release him and accused Russia of taking Westerners hostage. He was found guilty in October last year of gathering information on the Russian military and of violating its "foreign agent" law, as he did not register as one. The "foreign agent" law has been widely used against domestic Kremlin critics. Vinatier worked as an adviser with the Geneva-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, and is a veteran researcher on Russia and other post-Soviet countries. He said in court that in his work he always tried to "present Russia's interests in international relations".
