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Climate Campaigners Barred From Lewes Council Meeting

Friday, 22 July 2022 06:00

By Huw Oxburgh, Local Democracy Reporter

Climate campaigners were barred from attending a meeting of the East Sussex Pension Committee, after a previous protest sparked concerns.

On Wednesday (July 20), members of the East Sussex Pension Committee voted to prevent entry to the public gallery at County Hall, due to ‘concerns around safety and the potential for disruption’ following an incident the previous day. 

That incident  — which saw activists from Extinction Rebellion disrupt and delay a meeting of East Sussex County Council’s cabinet — came as a wider campaign sought to highlight a pension committee vote on withdrawing investments in fossil fuels.

With this vote due to take place, a sizable number of campaigners and concerns about a similar event taking place, the committee’s chairman Gerard Fox (Con) asked the committee to agree for the public gallery to be kept empty. 

He said:

“Yesterday at cabinet there was significant disruption resulting in officers and cabinet members being pursued through the building, trapped in rooms, jostling and pushed, shouted at in an intimidating manner and [protesters] refusing to leave the building even when the police were called. 

“It is my belief as chair that there is a significant likelihood that this meeting will be disrupted in a similar manner and the business will not effectively be transacted.”

While it ultimately voted to bar the public from attending, the committee had mixed views on whether the exclusion was appropriate. 

Cllr David Tutt (Lib Dem) said:

“I in no way condone the disruption to the meeting, but I do believe the public should have access to all our meetings and see and hear what we say and do.

“If certain members of the public abuse that privilege — and it is a privilege —  then the meeting should be halted until they are no longer in the chamber. 

“But the proposal you are suggesting is that no members of the public, even ones who have been in a meeting a few times in the past and have behaved acceptably, won’t be allowed in this meeting today. That seems wrong.”

While no-one was allowed to sit within the public gallery a video feed of the meeting was still streamed online. Press were also permitted to stay within the council chamber to report on the meeting.

The divestment vote itself came during discussion of the East Sussex Pension Fund’s annual investment report. 

During this item, Green Party councillor Georgia Taylor tabled a motion which called on the committee to agree to three things: to completely divest from fossil fuel assets; to commission a report on the options for and impact of divestment; and to develop a new policy which would set out what should happen when engagement with businesses does not produce the fund’s desired results.

This view was not shared by others on the committee, however, with several members raising a variety of concerns about the proposal. These included fears around the potential legislative and financial consequences of divestment. 

In light of this, Cllr Fox moved an amendment to the motion. This called on officers and the fund’s external advisors to produce a report which would, among other things, assess the fiduciary and legal consequences of fossil fuel divestment. 

After some lengthy discussion, the committee unanimously approved this amended motion. A further amendment (tabled by Cllr Tutt) called on the committee to support divestment in principle, but this was defeated on a majority vote. 

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The precise events of Tuesday’s disruption are somewhat contested, although campaigners and the council both confirmed that the meeting was suspended after protesters began shouting out from the public gallery. 

After this, it was said cabinet members left the council chamber and were followed by a group of protestors into a non-public area of County Hall. 

Councillors said protestors had been ‘aggressive’, with both staff and cabinet members left feeling ‘under threat’. They were said to have locked themselves within private offices due to fears for their own safety.

The protestors — who identified themselves as activists from Extinction Rebellion — dispute this saying the protest, while intended to be disruptive, was also non-violent. 

Police were called to the scene after this initial incident and activists were eventually persuaded to return to a public part of the building. While the council meeting resumed after this, the activists continued to occupy part of the building for several more hours, before being carried out by council-employed security staff.

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While campaigners were barred from entering the council chamber on Wednesday, protesters remained outside County Hall throughout the more than four-hour meeting. This included members of several different groups. 

Also present were members of the campaign group Divest East Sussex who had been taking part in a 60-hour fast intended to draw attention to the divestment vote. This fast was lifted during the meeting itself.

Another group of protesters — also from Extinction Rebellion — staged a sit-in in the building’s reception after being informed they would not be allowed within the council chamber. This group was carried out by security staff.

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