General Discussion
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48718725
Why is he suspended?
He should be applauded for having the guts to take on the intruder. She was trying to rush to the front, he had no idea of her intentions.
Well done Mark Field.
An assault is an assault, as is a crime is a crime. those of you who defend such actions, ought to be ashamed. He had no right to do what he did and a man in his position ought to know better
The Greenpeace activist gatecrashed a private function and was wholly responsible for creating the event that occurred, in my opinion she got off lightly.
@majorp sorry but that is cr*p. An assault is an assault, but is only a crime if it is unlawful. I have looked at the video, and as far as I can see, the man stops her walking past him by grabbing her arms and pushing her against a pillar. He then turns her and steers her out by holding her by the back of her neck (effectively causing no injury). She had entered the private function in full knowledge that her presence was not wanted, so she was a trespasser. Her action was unexpected, and in today's climate of danger to politicians, whether it be firearms, milkshake or battery acid attacks, I think he did the right thing. Whether he was entitled as an agent of the event to throw her out may be debateable, but he acted on instinct on the spur of the moment. I have heard how some commentators have remarked about how people around him did nothing...well I can only say that on occasions when I have seen someone behaving anti socially and I have decided to step in and do something about it, sadly it has not been often that bystanders have backed me up.
@vicks She may not have had an invite and neither was she stopped from entering that meeting. There are so many like meetings many of which are staged managed. So whose fault was it that she was there? Ifthey wanted her out, then they should havecalled the police who are lawfully qualified to deal with such situations. We cannot and must not have others taking the law into their own hands. Look at the Johnson case that has hit the headlines this morning, his neighbour did the right thing and called the Police.
A domestic row taped through a neighbour's wall that is promptly handed to The Guardian. Somebody is desperate to stop Boris Johnson becoming PM, I expect the Boris slurs to come thick and fast in the coming weeks before the Tories cast their votes.
Whichever way you look at it, the woman knew exactly what she was doing i.e. trespassing by gatecrashing a private function. There was probably an error by security staff which allowed her access. However, if I was to enter your home as a trespasser and refuse to leave, you would be legally entitled to remove me by force, as long as the level of force used is reasonable in the circumstances. Judges can make allowance for extra force used on the spur of the moment caused by adrenalin in threatening circumstances.
@burnside, another one who must have a crystal ball. Being elected as leader of the tory party, is just that. There has to be a General Election to get him to rule the country.
A General Election votes in a Parliamentary Party to govern, whoever is the leader. If the leader changes in between General Elections (GE), then that leader becomes Prime Minister. This is the system that has been in place for several years. In my remembered lifetime, James Callaghan took over from Harold Wilson (Labour) and was defeated in the next GE by Margaret Thatcher (Cons). John Major took over from Thatcher and won the next GE. Gordon Brown took over from Tony Blair (Labour) and was defeated in the next GE by David Cameron (Cons). Teresa May took over from David Cameron and won the next GE, albeit losing her majority. I do not remember shouts to have a GE on previous occasions, except perhaps quite weakly when Teresa May took over. Sorry to have to spell things out with a basic history lesson, but @majorp you really should know better. I am surprised by your post.
@vicks, I do not need a history lesson, all I am saying is that people on this site are making assumptions. It is not a foregone collusion that BoJo (that will please some on this site to call him BoJo) will even fill the top slot although things are looking that way at the moment. Don't you remember when Gove stabbed BoJo in the back when the top slot was up for grabs?
This article was originally published on July 1, 2016.
Sir Lynton Crosby, Boris Johnson’s campaign manager, was making final preparations for the formal announcement of Mr Johnson’s Tory leadership bid when his phone rang at 8.53 on Thursday morning.
“Hi Lynton, it’s Michael Gove here,” said the voice on the other end. “I’m running.”
“Running what?” Sir Lynton replied.
“I’m running for the leadership myself.”
Sir Lynton was stunned. With two hours to go until the launch of Mr Johnson’s leadership bid, Mr Gove, the man who was supposed to be making up the “dream ticket” with him, had not so much stabbed him in the back as run him through with a pikestaff.
So, to get to be leader of a party you have to be elected by a majority of that party, and then and only then can that person male or female (although there are no females left in the running in this party) have their eyes on becoming PM, but we are not there yet. Whoever fits the top job will of course become a caretaker PM, but the way politics are at the moment, how long will it last before a GE is called for? I'll take a stab and say within six months from today. You cannot run a country without having a majority and as you know there is not one party who can say we have a majority. Politics has never been so fragile as it is today
To nobody's surprise whatsoever, it has now come to light that the recording was done by a couple of rabid Remainiacs. I sincerely hope Boris does become PM now, the seething anger from the left will be a joy to behold.
What a surprise people here thinking it's ok to grab a woman like that. I guess you think Trump's defence of an alleged rape by saying "she is not my type" is approproiate and valid.
No one here not concerned that rather than report on the incident the press went after the reporters?
Yet when there are articles about Brexit being dumpster fire it is called fake news. This is called confirmation bias, where you believe only the things that fit your beliefs or seek out things that confirmed them.
How many more times does it have to be said? She was an activist who had invaded a private function and was intent on causing maximum disruption. She could have been treated a lot worse.
I saw very little wrong with his handling of someone who shouldn't have been there in the first place. A person was defending a space against another person, the man against a woman statement is nothing to do with it. Also how is anyone supposed to know these days who is genuine or not, does he wait until someone has been stabbed by an infiltrator at which time everyone would be shouting why did they all sit there and do nothing!
Some people on this site seem to think it is all right to take the law into their own hands, let them try it and then see what the law thinks. Anyone can challenge the law, but you must not break the law and you must not encourage others to do it either.
There plenty of other people there who didn't think to stand up and grab this women but he did. There were other options but he thought that was ok.
Jeremy Hunt not refering to what happened in this case, but said, "No violence is acceptable"' when refering to the happenings in Hong Kong. Peaceful demo's are ok.
So to my mind however difficult it is to restrain yourself, Feild is guilty on all counts, it was a peaceful demo by the lady he grabbed around the neck.
@S please see the last sentence of my post on 21/06/2019 at 2156 on this thread. Just because people around you fail to act does not necessarily make your actions unreasonable...I am talking from a lot of experience.
@majorp please see again the post referred to above, as well as my other one (again!) on 22/06/2019 at 1201 which I believe make a good case for defending his actions. I would only add that by grabbing her by the BACK of her neck (a detail you have conveniently failed to mention) not only avoided causing her injury, but also helped to prevent her causing any injury to himself (@S perhaps I should also inform you that women can and do cause physical injury to men on occasion, and that men are entitled to defend themselves, and circumstances can justify a "pre-emptive strike"...look it up if you don't believe me).
This action was done in a developing incident which was also very noisy. It is so easy for people, sitting comfortably in their armchairs after the event and viewing it in slow motion, to judge and criticise. Just because someone keeps saying "Peaceful protest" does not mean that is what they intend. The whole incident was a unknown threat at the time. You were not there people, so can we agree to stop flogging this dead horse please?
@vicks read the last sentence of the thread above, I did conveniently mention grabbing her around the neck---didn't I?