Councillors complain of ‘bullying’ by protesters at East Sussex

On Tuesday (July 12), environmental campaigners from a variety of groups held a demonstration outside County Hall in Lewes, as East Sussex County Council gathered for its most recent full council meeting. 

The demonstration — now a regular feature of full council meetings — saw protesters call on councillors to support the East Sussex Pension Fund relinquishing its investments in the fossil fuel industry. 

\'Lightship Greta\' being pushed up the hill to County Hall, 12 July 2022. Photo: Steve Lewis. Supplied by Divest East Sussex.

It came a week ahead of the next meeting of the council’s pension committee, which is expected to debate the issue further. More campaigning — including workshops and fasting — is expected to take place in the lead up to this meeting. 

In a statement issued afterwards, a spokesperson for the demonstration said: “Despite declaring a ‘climate emergency’ over two-and-a-half years ago, East Sussex County Council is still investing local people’s pensions in the giant oil companies – like Shell and BP – that are driving the climate crisis.

“Not only is this hypocrisy on a grand scale, but by clinging on to these investments it is also providing a fig-leaf for these companies’ ongoing attempts to block effective climate action.

“It’s time for ESCC to stop making excuses and divest from fossil fuels. We urge anyone who’s concerned about the climate to visit https://tinyurl.com/takeactionfordivest and email the decision-makers before the vote on 20 July.”

The demonstration was made up of protesters from a number of groups, including: Divest East Sussex, Eco Action Families Brighton, Lewes Climate Hub, Lewes Green Party, Seaford Environmental Alliance, Transition Town Hastings, Transition Town Lewes and several local branches of Extinction Rebellion. 

Drumming from the demonstration could be heard for much of the meeting that followed. This saw some split opinions among councillors present in the chamber, with both criticism and support being voiced.

Those to criticise the protest included Labour’s Godfrey Daniel, who described the drumming as ‘bullying’ and called for action to prevent similar demonstrations on council grounds in future.

He said: “I don’t like bullies and when bullies seek to disrupt the democratic process that has me worried.

“I do hope the leader and his legal officers might look into using any powers to stop that. At the end of the day we are here and people are entitled to come and address us as they for public questions.

“We deserve to be able to hear people and understand what they are saying. I am always struck by the fact we must pay a fortune for security these days, that we never used to have to. That is money that could go into special needs education or other places.”

This approach saw some criticism from Green Party councillor Wendy Maples, who said: “There seems to be a presumption that all of the divest protesters are members of the Green Party. It is simply not true. There are members of Labour, Lib Dems and Conservatives. There are people who are asking you to divest from your own constituency. 

“What is important is that those people are feeling like they are not heard. Whatever you might think of the nature of the protest, these are people who are exercising a democratic right.

“I am really sorry to hear a Labour member speaking against the democratic right to protest. I think that is a real shame and I think we all need to be cognisant of the importance of protest in the democratic process.”  

Cllr Nick Bennett, Conservative cabinet member for resources and climate change, took issue with this description, however.

Addressing Cllr Maples, he said: “Thank you for your patronising comments regarding democracy. Can I just point out for you that we do not have the right in this country to demonstrate, we have the right to demonstrate peacefully. 

“You heard this morning that some people believe that the behaviour of the people outside was bullying. Others found it irritating. That is a breach of the peace, therefore that cannot be a peaceful demonstration, therefore something should have been done about it.”

Cllr Chris Collier (Lab) said: “Now I am not suggesting the council doesn’t listen, because I have seen responses from officers and I know the council does listen. But that is different from people believing they’ve been heard. 

“I think there is something we could maybe carry forward through governance about engaging better with our residents, maybe changing some of the constitution about how we engage with them through these meetings. 

“I think that is something that could perhaps take that engagement with East Sussex County Council and residents in a different direction that might suit everybody better.”

NOTE TO EDITORS: Photos supplied by climate campaigners. Please ensure they are correctly captioned.