Protest

Protest is a democratic right, one which must be protected if this country isn't going to go to the dogs. Whilst there is always the scope for the protesters to turn against democracy we have to assume that it is a remote possability.

We also have to assume that the government will do little more than take note of the protests - if government policy was just dictated by protesters we'd live in a very poor society indeed, with no planning beyond the immediate term.

So here's the thing - how do you police protests at power stations?

Power stations, by their nature are strategic assets of national importance. Turn them off and large swathes of the country can easily be blacked out with the local economy shutting down for a few hours. Continue the theme with regular blackouts and people will start loosing their jobs. Not pretty.
It's little surprise, therefore, that the police have been accussed of being heavy handed - after all they need to protect millions of people against the posibility that there are a few nutters in the croud who are there just to cause disruption.

Yes, people are entitled to peaceful protest - but you have to realise that with so many people seemingly willing to cross the moral line the police do have little choice but to assume that everyone out to cause as much trouble as possible - even if the demonstration is billed as peaceful.

Sadly, that includes kids.