Letter to KM on Climate Camp

Letter sent to the KM in response to this week's climate camp revalations:

Dear Editor,

Complaints by the Chief Constable and Chair of Kent Police that services will have to be cut after the force over policed the Kingsnorth Climate Camp are hardly surprising. As one of the people who spent two hours waiting to be searched by the massive police presence it seemed to me that the ridiculously large police presence was either grossly misjudged or designed to frustrate a legitimate protest.

The right to peaceful protest is enshrined in law and the camp was extremely peaceful and well organised. The minister for policing has had to apologise for misleading the public after he claimed 70 officers were injured. In fact 12 were injured and only four minor injuries resulted from contact with protesters - the rest were wasp stings and the like.

It is time for the Chief Constable to stand down. He has led his force into the worst demonstration of political policing Kent has seen, and by vastly overspending he has put the people of Kent at unnecessary risk through cuts in services.