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Live Animal Export Protest In Britain - by Juliet Maxam
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THIS year the small Essex town of Brightlingsea has become
famous. On January 16 the once sleepy riverside town became a
centre for live animal exports. The world's Press made its way
to the town, and images of pensioners, mothers and children
clashing with police were beamed around the world on television
screens, in newspapers and magazines.
The first week of protests saw hopes raised and dashed,
promises made and broken, the seeds of disillusionment sewn, and
bitter confrontation. And all of it was captured in print, on
video and radio.
On the third day Essex Police deployed in riot gear - hard
helmets with visors, protective shin, arm and body pads,
gauntlets and boots. Astonished protesters, largely locals,
mainly pensioners and middle class women with children were
physically removed from the path of the animal lorries. Police
were quickly accused of heavy handed tactics.
Hundreds of complaints were logged at Essex Police
headquarters. The Police Complaints Authority was called in to
supervise an investigation into police tactics during the first
week, to be conducted by Commander Bernard Luckhurst of the
Metropolitan Police. The findings of the investigation were
revealed last month. Commander Luckhurst blamed the Press for
the breakdown in relations between Essex Police and the
Brightlingsea protesters. He said some video producers were
willing to manipulate available material and there was evidence
of "extremely subtle editing". My newspaper, the East Anglian
Daily Times, was criticised for using a photograph of a
policeman with his foot raised above a protester sitting in the
road. Mr Luckhurst said subsequent photographs clearly showed
the policeman was stepping over protesters. Commentary on GMTV
describing a photograph used in The Guardian as portraying a
sole protester surrounded by police was also attacked.
Justifying his tirade against the media in what was
supposed to be an investigation into police tactics, Mr
Luckhurst said that most complaints received by Essex Police
were from people who had not been at the demonstrations, but had
seen them on television or in newspapers. He did concede that
some police officers had been a "little too zealous" and that
officers on the ground should have acted sooner to deal with
problems such as constables not displaying their numbers and
covering their faces with balaclavas.
I have been reporting the demonstrations in Brightlingsea
since day one. Nine months later, the protests still continue,
once a day, five days a week, as long as there is a shipment.
Nine months later I am still there reporting the issue.
Reporting the Brightlingsea demonstrations has been the most
difficult, exciting, exasperating job I have faced in my three
years as a reporter. Monday to Friday, once a day, for the last
nine months, with only a few exceptions, a convoy of sheep and
calves has been shipped from Brightlingsea. For every convoy
there has been a demonstration - once or twice up to 2,000
people, often about 300, more usually nearer 100 protesters.
The story has more twists and turns than a roller coaster. In
January, wharf owner Ernest Oliver declared the wharf was for
sale and the Town Council launched an appeal to buy it. In
April, Assistant Chief Constable Geoffrey Markham sent a letter
to everyone in Brightlingsea telling them he intended to use the
Public Order Act to police the demonstrations, so Brightlingsea
Against Live Exports disbanded rather than risk being jailed for
organising the protests. In June, a group of "eco-cowboys"
chained themselves to a beat-up old bus at the entrance to the
wharf. In August, the livestock exporter behind the
Brightlingsea trade, Roger Mills, issued writs against 14
protesters, and sought injunctions to stop them from protesting.
Most recently, one of the Brightlingsea 14, Derrick Day,
collapsed after venting his spleen at the meeting between the
PCA and protesters and died later in hospital. Court cases
abound, with defendants including Mr Markham, Mr Mills, various
protesters, haulage companies and a Press photographer.
Throughout the nine months of reporting Brightlingsea I have
tried to sit firmly on the fence, but have been charged with
bias by all three sides. I have been accused of not telling the
truth - by protesters, of barefaced lies - by the exporter, and
of fuelling the protests - by the police. I feel like piggy in
the middle, a feeling the police claim for themselves, although
they use different terminology.
All three sides want to use me to bolster their image and
cause. Accounts of anything in the least bit controversial or
damaging to one of the sides inevitably leads to complaints.
After Pc Pat Lane was taken to hospital with a puncture wound
following a demonstration in August, I was harangued for days
afterwards by protesters complaining because I reported that Pc
Lane had been stabbed. I was even advised by my news editor not
to show my face in Brightlingsea for a few days.
Each tip off and fact has to be carefully checked, not only
with the three main players, but with Essex County Council
trading standards department and the Ministry of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food. Some of the rumours I have tried to stand up
seem ridiculous now, but it would have been a good story if a
convoy of sheep had been radioactive, or a dead sheep had been
thrown off the livestock ship and washed up at Frinton. It would
have been excellent to meet an ex-Beatle if the rumour about
Paul McCartney visiting the protesters had actually been true.
Once I even hung around waiting for Jurgen Klinsman, who was
also supposed to be on his way to offer his support to
protesters. One late night phone call led to a wild goose chase
around the Essex countryside looking for sheep lorries allegedly
parked in a lay-by - we found them, unloaded, at a lairage.
I have learned some amazing facts during the continuing saga.
Did you know, for instance, that sheep do not get seasick
because they have two stomachs? A Belgian ministry of
agriculture vet told me that while I was waiting for the
Brightlingsea livestock ship, MV Caroline, to dock at
Nieuwpoort, Belgium, in freezing rain and wind. And I have been
put off salami for life after a protester told me some countries
in Europe make it out of donkey meat.
Physically, reporting demonstrations has been difficult. For
the first few days I was getting down to Brightlingsea by 6.30am
and not getting home until 11pm. In three seasons I have had to
contend with icy winds, rain, hot sun and a plague of thunder
bugs, while jotting notes in my pad. In addition, I have had to
avoid getting arrested and crushed. Skills I can now boast
include judging crowd numbers, knowing where the action will be
and avoiding being trapped behind a police line.
During the last nine months, my patience has been tested to
extremes. I have had to endure hysterical protesters heckling me
in the heat of a demonstration, snide comments and abuse from
all sides, and have even been blamed for the continuing protests
by residents of Brightlingsea not involved in the issue. But I
was undoubtedly pushed closest to breaking point when Commander
Luckhurst blamed the media for damaging the relations between
police and protesters - to me that was the most unfair
accusation of the whole nine months.
I am proud of the job I have done in Brightlingsea. It has
been tough and frustrating. At times it has been exhilarating,
at times it has been tedious. It has been a lesson in using the
power of the Press responsibly.