UK: Stansted paralysed after climate change protesters break into airport and storm runway

The Daily Mail (U.K.) / various ^ | December 8, 2008

[steelyourfaith]

 

Beam me to Planet Gore !

[Stoat]

Thank you very much for pinging your list  :-)

 

[Stoat]

Here's how to deal with that kind of a-hole.
 

I confess that I would have no problems with lethal measures in a case like this.  The UK is at war, as are we.  The concept of a 'secure area' at an airport 'should' mean something.  When crap like this goes on and we get quotes like:

"If they want to continue in this lawless manner, then yes they can," spokesman Nick Barton told Sky News.

and

'We do not run a fortress, we run an airport.

then it is apparent to me that the concept of a 'secure area' does not, in fact, mean anything at all.

"sigh"

[Madame Dufarge]

The comments at the link are hilarious.

Not much sympathy for the eco-terrorists.

[Thermalseeker]

Here's how to deal with that kind of a-hole.

Since it's an airport, a low level, say 10' off the deck, supersonic pass by a Typhoon would do nicely to "scatter" the crowd....

[Malsua]

Chained together?

Oh, that makes it so easy. One tow chain, one big ole SUV, drag them off. No fuss no muss.

[NonValueAdded]

The protest began at 3.15am when 54 campaigners occupied a runway that had been closed for maintenance work, according to Plane Stupid, which organised the demonstration.

Yes, they sure are. At least the Luddites were concerned about jobs and not simply bashing technology as a cornerstone of their religion.

[Slings and Arrows]

10 out of 10 for style, too.

[Slings and Arrows]

They’ll think that way until there’s another major terrorist attack via airport.

Then they’ll blame Bush. (I don’t care if it’s England or it happens years from now, they’ll still blame Bush.)

[SECURE AMERICA]

Flights at Stansted were today grounded after at least 50 climate change protesters broke into the airport and occupied a runway.
Activists cut through fencing and once on the landing strip chained themselves together and surrounded themselves with their security fencing to create a ‘fort’.

What, there aren’t any bulldozers in the UK??

[jackofhearts]

Shoot on sight on the count of 3, 2, 1....

[maggief]

“What, there aren’t any bulldozers in the UK??”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcC0Eo6MTVA

Snowplows (snowploughs).

[ccmay]

They shoulld have had the fire hoses, Alsatian dogs, pepper spray, and batons tuned up in fifteen minutes. Scratch that; they should have been machine gunned as soon as they broke the perimeter.

[ccmay]

They shoulld have had the fire hoses, Alsatian dogs, pepper spray, and batons tuned up in fifteen minutes. Scratch that; they should have been machine gunned as soon as they broke the perimeter.

[ccmay]

They shoulld have had the fire hoses, Alsatian dogs, pepper spray, and batons tuned up in fifteen minutes. Scratch that; they should have been machine gunned as soon as they broke the perimeter.

[ArrogantBustard]

Visualize protesters being moved ...

[Levante]

Image 767 engines sucking up the running, terrified criminal bastards and blowing them out like so much charred Chef Boyardi spagetti.

[monday]

Charge each protester 100,000 for damages and give it to the passengers they inconvenienced. If they or their parents can't pay, confiscate their belongings and throw them in prison.

[monday]

Olivia Chessell is quite the ugly fat cow isn’t she?

[Stoat]

UPDATE

Passengers' fury as climate change protest at Stansted airport forces dozens of flights to be cancelled Mail Online

(edit)

Thousands of furious passengers left stranded after dozens of flights were cancelled and others seriously delayed had to be kept calm by armed police.

(edit)

The protesters, mostly under 25 and mainly students, arrived in an old fire-engine and just before 3am and used bolt-cutters to break through a perimeter fence.

(edit)

It took police hours to cut them free and it was not until 8.30am - almost five hours after the protest had started - that the airport was able to resume flights.

Officers arrested 57 activists and took them away in an airport shuttle bus as the first planes took off overhead.

At least one, Olivia Chessell, 20, was convicted last month of a rooftop protest at the House of Commons in February.

She avoided prison for the protest and was instead fined £365 after being found guilty of trespass.

 

Airside: Campaigner Olivia Chessell who staged a roof-top protest at Westminster earlier this year. Below, two more young protesters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ex-public schoolgirl Lily Kember, 21, now a student at Edinburgh University, acted as the group's 'mouthpiece' from the airfield during the sit-in.

 

(edit)

 

'It is unacceptable that the travel plans of thousands of passengers have been disrupted because BAA Stansted security have failed to remove a number of protesters.'

 

 

Anger: Thousands of passengers were stranded, leaving the airport in chaos. Armed police had to be brought in to keep the crowds calm

(edit)

Ryanair advised people waiting to travel to go home and try re-booking because flights only had 'limited availability' for the next three days.

Those who manage to re-book would not be charged extra and people on specific flights would be able to claim a refund, it said.

But scores of angry passengers were still queuing at the check-in desk this morning. Four armed policemen were brought in to help keep order.
 

Next to one officer was a large advertising board declaring: '100 per cent Guest Satisfaction Guarantee - Because we love to leave you satisfied.'

One woman in the queue remarked wryly: 'It's good to see that irony isn't dead.'

Gordon Brown's spokesman said: 'Of course everybody has a right to protest, but people also have a right to be able to travel without unnecessary hindrance.'

(edit)

Others were horrified at the lack of security. Lainey Mace, from Norfolk, said: 'It is very worrying that protesters were able to get either close to the runway or on the runway. You would have thought security at an airport would be much tighter than that.'

Asked if she had any sympathy for protesters, she added: 'Not at all. They have caused great inconvenience.'

Terry Purton, 61, of Edenbridge, Kent, who had been due to fly to Bratislava, added: 'f they can do it, I'm sure there would be nothing to stop terrorists.'

(edit)

 

However, there were claims this morning that the airport had ignored warnings its fencing was not secure.
 

The GMB trade union, which represents workers at Stansted, said it had been pressing officials to review security because of its state for months.
 

National officer Mick Rix said: 'The GMB has been raising the state of the fencing around Stansted Airport for a number of months because we have not been satisfied that it is in a good enough state.

'We have been seeking a seat on the relevant committee that looks after the security of the airport but we have been excluded.'

Too easy: The gap in the secure fencing where protesters gained entry

(edit)

 

**************************************************************

As usual, the best part of the article is the commentary from Daily Mail readers....there is a widespread visceral anger against the protesters.  Here are just a few of the well over 150 comments:

 

     

I suggest the Police use a hosepipe. A blast of cold water will quickly put a stop to this criminal activity. If any of this lot are on benefits, I seuggest that payments are suspended for 6 months. Whilst these people see it as a protest it is criminal activiity causing irritation to law abiding travellers

 

- Hugh Craen, Haywards Heath, 7/12/2008 23:28

What idiots! Do they not understand that people have jobs? I work as cabin crew for Ryanair out of Stansted, and due to the cancellation of those flights because of those selfish morons who are probably sponging off the government and living on tax payers money (what normal person with a job has time to do something as idiotic as that?) the crews will have been up since 3 in the morning, to get to work, to then be told there flight is cancelled and not get paid a single penny. It will also have disrupted the plans of many passengers. I would say its a pure selfish act!

elene, Stansted, 8/12/2008 1:02

"In a statement, Plane Stupid said the disruption to flights will prevent �the release of thousands of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere�." Of course it won't, you stupid, stupid people. The flights will be diverted elsehere, and end up circling while landing slots are reorganised, then buses and taxis will have to be used to get them back to Stanstead for connections or onward travel, so the net result will be MORE, not less, emissions. Idiots.

 

- Sam Weller, Basingstoke, England, 8/12/2008 0:10

 

 

One MP embarrasses an incompetent and inept Home Secretary gets visited by NINE anti-terrorist police. Fifty protestors break into private property and put at risk passengers and aircraft plus possibly causing physical damage and they are left alone for hours before local plods eventually take action.
Balanced response, you make the call.

 

- Frank Spence, Maidstone, England, 7/12/2008 23:42