Police arrive at Ffos-y-Fran to clear site of protestors
Police have arrived at the Ffos-y-Fran open-cast mine near Merthyr Tydfil to clear the site of activists after members of Extinction Rebellion handcuffed themselves to a giant pink boat.
The boat was secretly manoeuvred into position to blockade the entrance of the mine at 9:30am on Wednesday (Jul 5) in protest against the failure of the authorities to shut down operations there.
Four police vans and cars arrived at Ffos-y-Fran at around 10am on Thursday (June 6).
On April 26 last year, Merthyr Tydfil Council rejected an application to extend the mine’s permission to operate and the decision to close the mine was welcomed by First Minister of the Welsh Government, Mark Drakeford.
But despite having no active licence, the mine’s owner Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd have continued to operate.
This is the first action by members of Extinction Rebellion using ‘lock ons’ since the Public Order Act (2023) came into effect.
Under the POA locking-on is now an offence which can result in 51 weeks in prision. Two people are currently locked on to the boat and four are risking arrest.
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Emergency
Marcus Bailie, 68 who is locked on to the boat said: “We know there’s no room for coal in this climate emergency. The authorities should have issued an immediate stop notice back in October.
“Ordinary people have to step in when the authorities are missing in action. The authority with which the police are trying to move us is highly questionable from a legal perspective and completely insane in the middle of a climate emergency. It’s time the government just stopped all coal.”
Based on the most recently available official statistics from The Coal Authority, by the end of May 2023, nearly 300,000 tonnes of coal would have been mined.
Campaigners say is has cost the climate of almost a million tonnes of CO2 as mining continues at a rate of over 1,000 tonnes each day.
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Any sons and daughters of Maggie’s army among the ‘Fuzz’…interesting day in court to come as someone said on here the other day…
I name this boat the ‘Pink Warrior’ in honour of the ‘Rainbow Warrior’ and in memory of the killing of Fernando Pereira by French Naval Commandos…
July 10th 1985, so it will be the 38th anniversary on Monday…
(I knew one of the team who, in later life, regularly sailed out of a Gwynedd harbour, believe it or not)…
“Four police vans and cars arrived at Ffos-y-Fran at around 10am on Thursday (June 6).”
Mr Plod’s secret weapon: the ability to travel back time!
The other day asylum seekers destined for a hotel in Llanelli were causing locals to vocalise…
Other events, including a park in Cardiff threatened with a sewage scheme are doing the same…
Now it is the rogue Ffos-y-Fran coal mine that is infuriating locals.
Are we seeing a re-radicalisation of De Cymru?
This new policy giving the police powers to clear protestors, in the name of stopping disruption, is all very good but what exactly is this Tory government doing to avoid this disruption in the first place? These people are protesting for a reason, to just ignore them and get heavy handed isn’t going to rectify the problem or even stop them. The government needs to show them they are taking steps to avoid climate disaster in the future. All these people are seeing these days is the scrapping of green legislation, the opening of more coal mines and further investment… Read more »
As usual, the police arrive and may arrest the wrong people. It’s not the protestors that need arresting but the ones who are causing the protests in the first place. Note for police chiefs: For goodness sake put on your thinking caps and put your brains in gear before arresting people who are after all only doing what is right.