Sunday, August 07, 2022

Watch: Protesters storm Tory leadership hustings

"The Tory leadership contest is like a competition on who can unleash the biggest attack on working people", Fatima-Zahra Ibrahim said.

 by Jack Peat
LONDON ECONOMIC EYE
2022-08-06 
in Politics


Liz Truss has vowed to clamp down on “unfair protests” after a small group of climate activists disrupted her speech at a Tory leadership hustings in Eastbourne, East Sussex.

The five protesters, believed to be from the Green New Deal Rising group, heckled Ms Truss over climate change and energy bills.

They could be heard shouting “shame on you” and calling for a Green New Deal.

The Foreign Secretary described them as “infiltrators”, before vowing to clamp down on “militant trade unions” and “unfair protests”.


Ms Truss said after they left the studio: “Can I just say a few words on the militant people who try and disrupt our country and who try and disrupt our democratic process and try and disrupt our essential services.

“I would legislate immediately to make sure that we are standing up to militant trade unions who stop ordinary commuters getting into work. And I would legislate to protect our essential services.”

She added: “And I will make sure that militant activists such as Extinction Rebellion are not able to disrupt ordinary people who work hard and do the right thing and go into work.

“I will never ever, ever allow our democracy to be disrupted by unfair protests.”

The disruption came as Ms Truss was in the middle of delivering her opening speech at the fourth of 12 official Conservative leadership hustings.

Another protester was later escorted out as Ms Truss was in the middle of a question and answer session with Tory members.

She joked: “I take it as a compliment that I’m so popular with Extinction Rebellion.”



The Foreign Secretary’s bid to become prime minister got a major boost after Conservative former minister Nus Ghani came out in support of her campaign at the beginning of the debate.

Ms Truss was introduced by Ms Ghani, who told Tory members that because of her role as the vice-chairwoman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs, she had not been able to back a candidate until this stage of the race.

She said: “Liz is straightforward. When she tells you she’s going to do something, you can trust her that it will get done. Liz listens.

“When colleagues come forward with ideas or problems to solve, she engages with them. She is inclusive.

“I’ve been a minister and now a backbencher. And my experience with Liz Truss is that she is both fair and honest.”

She added: “It’s Liz that is going to bring us together.”

The former chancellor Rishi Sunak was instead introduced by Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, who told members Mr Sunak is the best candidate to “beat Keir Starmer and to win the next election”.

Rage against the Tories at Eastbourne leadership hustings

Protestors and activists disrupted Tory leadership hustings on Friday demanding climate justice and Tories out


Eastbourne protests at the hustings united different groups and individuals 
(Picture: John Hesse)

SOCIALIST WORKER

Over 200 protesters confronted the Rishi Sunak-Liz Truss hustings roadshow on Friday in the Sussex coastal town of Eastbourne.

Speaking to camera outside the venue a bemused-sounding BBC journalist struggled to be heard above chants of “Tories out” and “Refugees welcome here”. “It seems that every protester in East Sussex is here,” he said.

Meanwhile inside the event half a dozen young people from Green New Deal Rising and Just Stop Oil had blagged their way into the Centre to successfully disrupt the event to call for climate action. Typically rather than address the climate emergency Liz Truss vowed to crack down on protests and strikes.

Local protesters had gathered at Eastbourne station to welcome groups arriving from Hastings, Lewes, Brighton, Newhaven and Seaford. Then they marched to the hustings venue behind the East Sussex RMT Coastway union banner.

Eastbourne Trades Council and Eastbourne Stand up to Racism (SUTR) initiated the protest. Organiser Louise Walton from SUTR said, “Once we called the protest we immediately reached out to environmental groups and refugee support groups across East Sussex including Extinction Rebellion (XR) groups and the local Bespoke campaign which fights for improved cycle facilities in the town.

“We didn’t wait until the venue was known before putting the call out.”

Rachael from the local XR group said “Some good connections were made with different groups. Working together is how we win!”

Chelsea heard about the protest from a friend. She said “I went straight to the Welcome Centre, the hustings venue. There was just me and small groups of right-wing people. I felt very alone but then I heard the protest coming round the corner. What a wonderful sight. I wasn’t on my own anymore.”

When the march arrived at the centre protesters took over the concourse which was the entry point to the hustings. They drowned out and sidelined small numbers of conspiracy theorists and UKIP supporters.

Tories attending the event had no choice but to make their way past the protest while the crowd chanted “Welcome every refugee, throw the Tories in the sea”, “Sunak, Truss hear us say—tax the rich and make them pay” and “What do we want? Climate justice.”

At one point a visibly shaken Caroline Ansell, the local Tory MP, emerged to remonstrate with police saying “this is unacceptable”.

After an hour or so of chanting, protesters held a short rally. Keith Mitchell from the RMT received a rousing reception and warned of Tory plans to outlaw effective strike action. Other speakers condemned the government’s Rwanda deportation policy and the support of both candidates for fracking.

Future Tory hustings are: Tue 9 August Darlington, Thu 11 August Cheltenham, Tue 16 August Perth, Fri 19 August Manchester, Tue 23 August Birmingham, Thu 25 August Norwich, Wed 31 August London

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