[Stoat]

[ApplegateRanch]

Shouldn’t that trident be pointy end down, with a prong firmly impaling in Lady Britannia’s foot to the ground?

(Doesn’t matter which of her left feet; either will do.)

[Stoat]

Update:

Stansted Airport Climate Protest Plane Stupid Activists Camp Out On Runway Blocking Flights UK News Sky News

The protests which brought Stansted Airport to a standstill this morning could happen again at any time, a spokesman for the British Aviation Authority has admitted.

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

He said the airfield, which covers around 2,000 acres, is pregnable.

In total 21 flights have been cancelled after protesters from the Plane Stupid group took over a taxiway.

Stansted has reopened this morning after around 50 climate activists were removed from the site.

Dozens of protesters from thePlane Stupid action group have been detained by authorities after chaining themselves to fencing, some with locks around their necks.

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

Look at all the havoc they caused:

STN DEPARTURES

Date:	Mon 08-Dec-2008
Time Period:	Departures Arrivals
Airport:	(STN) Stansted Airport
	London, EN, GB

---

^ Codeshare Flight

On-time (< 15 min)

Very late (30-45 min)

Setup Alert

Estimated Time

Late (15-29 min)

Excessive (> 45 min)

Track Flight

---

Flight	Carrier	Destination	Departure	Status	Track
FR 3002	Ryanair	(CIA) Rome	06:10 AM	Cancelled
FR 2372	Ryanair	(GDN) Gdansk	06:10 AM	Cancelled
FR 901	Ryanair	(ORK) Cork	06:20 AM	Cancelled
FR 8542	Ryanair	(SXF) Berlin	06:25 AM	Cancelled
FR 8405	Ryanair	(WRO) Wroclaw	06:25 AM	Cancelled
U2 3167	easyJet	(ALC) Alicante	06:25 AM	En Route Delayed
FR 434	Ryanair	(LBC) Hamburg	06:25 AM	Cancelled
FR 2314	Ryanair	(BTS) Bratislava	06:25 AM	Cancelled
FR 203	Ryanair	(DUB) Dublin	06:30 AM	Cancelled
FR 32	Ryanair	(TRF) Oslo	06:30 AM	Cancelled
FR 9918	Ryanair	(NQY) Newquay	06:30 AM	Scheduled
FR 972	Ryanair	(GOA) Genoa	06:35 AM	Cancelled
FR 8343	Ryanair	(OPO) Porto	06:35 AM	Cancelled
FR 2466	Ryanair	(SZZ) Szczecin	06:40 AM	Cancelled
U2 3445	easyJet	(TLL) Tallinn	06:45 AM	En Route Delayed
FR 964	Ryanair	(GSE) Gothenburg	06:55 AM	Cancelled
FR 9271	Ryanair	(EIN) Eindhoven	06:55 AM	Cancelled
FR 611	Ryanair	(LDY) Londonderry	07:00 AM	Cancelled
U2 3001	easyJet	(AMS) Amsterdam	07:00 AM	En Route Delayed
FR 2144	Ryanair	(KUN) Kaunas	07:00 AM	Cancelled
FR 752	Ryanair	(HHN) Frankfurt	07:05 AM	Cancelled
U2 3111	easyJet	(AGP) Malaga	07:10 AM	En Route Delayed
FR 712	Ryanair	(AAR) Aarhus	07:10 AM	Cancelled
AB 8811	Air Berlin	(FMO) Muenster	09:05 AM	Scheduled Delayed
FR 3632	Ryanair	(BRE) Bremen	07:15 AM	Cancelled
U2 3461	easyJet	(CPH) Copenhagen	07:29 AM	En Route Delayed
FR 2336	Ryanair	(POZ) Poznan	07:15 AM	Cancelled
U2 3187	easyJet	(LYS) Lyon	07:15 AM	En Route Delayed
U2 3263	easyJet	(FNC) Funchal	07:20 AM	Scheduled
FR 1905	Ryanair	(BRI) Bari	07:30 AM	Cancelled
AB 8893	Air Berlin	(DUS) Dusseldorf	09:15 AM	Scheduled Delayed
FR 3252	Ryanair	(NRN) Dusseldorf	07:30 AM	Cancelled
U2 3063	easyJet	(PRG) Prague	07:44 AM	Scheduled On-time
AB 8197	Air Berlin	(HAJ) Hanover	09:00 AM	Scheduled Delayed
AB 8461	Air Berlin	(NUE) Nuremberg	09:15 AM	Scheduled Delayed
4U 355	Germanwings	(CGN) Cologne	07:50 AM	Scheduled
U2 255	easyJet	(BFS) Belfast	08:05 AM	Scheduled On-time
U2 3411	easyJet	(MUC) Munich	08:05 AM	Scheduled On-time
FR 8776	Ryanair	(LIG) Limoges	08:12 AM	Scheduled On-time
4U 2377	Germanwings	(STR) Stuttgart	08:00 AM	Scheduled
FR 9803	Ryanair	(GRO) Girona	08:21 AM	Scheduled On-time
FR 205	Ryanair	(DUB) Dublin	08:05 AM	Cancelled
U2 233	easyJet	(EDI) Edinburgh	08:15 AM	Scheduled On-time
AB 8315	Air Berlin	(PAD) Paderborn	09:15 AM	Scheduled Delayed
FR 4184	Ryanair	(BGY) Milan	08:34 AM	Scheduled On-time
FR 6538	Ryanair	(MRS) Marseille	08:15 AM	Cancelled
FR 6123	Ryanair	(BHD) Belfast	08:15 AM	Cancelled
U2 207	easyJet	(GLA) Glasgow	08:25 AM	Scheduled On-time
FR 582	Ryanair	(PSA) Pisa	08:44 AM	Scheduled On-time
FR 709	Ryanair	(KIR) Kerry County	08:25 AM	Scheduled
DY 1303	Norwegian Air Shuttle	(OSL) Gardermoen	08:25 AM	Scheduled
FR 2638	Ryanair	(GRX) Granada	08:44 AM	En Route On-time
FR 5994	Ryanair	(MAD) Madrid	08:45 AM	Scheduled On-time
FR 103	Ryanair	(SNN) Shannon	08:30 AM	Cancelled
FR 3004	Ryanair	(CIA) Rome	08:59 AM	Scheduled On-time
U2 513	easyJet	(NCL) Newcastle	08:50 AM	Scheduled On-time
FR 407	Ryanair	(PIK) Glasgow	08:40 AM	Cancelled
FR 2402	Ryanair	(AGA) Agadir	08:45 AM	Scheduled
T3 4721	Eastern Airways	(MAN) Manchester	08:45 AM	Scheduled
BA 1	British Airways	(EDI) Edinburgh	06:11 AM	Unknown
CJ 1	BA CityFlyer	(LCY) London	08:42 AM	Scheduled

[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