Ah, that whiff of hypocrisy, the pungent aroma of double standards, those screeching 180-degree U-Turns as the boot is seen to be very firmly on the other foot: during the campaign for the European Parliament elections, we were told very firmly by those out on the right, chucking a milkshake over Nigel “Thirsty” Farage was no laughing matter. This was merely an entry-level drug on the way to something infinitely more serious.
Mark Field MP ...
Moreover, the milkshake chucker should be prosecuted with the full force of the law. But now it is all so different, after Tory MP Mark Field, who represents the Cities of London and Westminster, was caught on camera last night violently assaulting a peaceful woman protester who had, with some others, interrupted Philip Hammond’s Mansion House speech. The assault was entirely unprovoked, and there was no threat to Field.
... and where he may be heading soon
The protester was walking past the table where Field was seated. As she passed behind him, he leapt from his seat, grabbed her, pushed her up against a pillar, then grabbed her again, this time by the neck, and pushed her out of the room. The condemnation has been instantaneous. Except from those out on the right, who have either mysteriously not seen the incident, do not want to jump to conclusions, or are spinning it as justified.
Field claimed “In the confusion many guests understandably felt threatened and when one protester rushed past me towards the top table I instinctively reacted. There was no security present and I was for a split-second genuinely worried she might have been armed”. Yeah, right. She was wearing a sleeveless dress. Exactly where was she going to conceal those offensive weapons? At least he’s referred himself to the Cabinet Office.
But there has to be spin from the right, and as so often, the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog are the ones to supply it: “For what it’s worth, this was a protester who had breached security and was reportedly heading straight for the Chancellor just three years after an MP had been assassinated. Should she have been allowed to get to him?” Thomas Mair had a knife and a gun. She didn’t.
Meanwhile, in the real world, condemnation of Field came thick and fast, with Sunny Hundal concluding “No one looked threatened. Expressing ‘regret’ is not enough. This is assault”. James O’Brien added “Strangling a woman ‘instinctively’ doesn’t sound like a defence. It sounds like a personality disorder”. EL4JC mused “Remember that time Jeremy Corbyn gabbed a female People’s Vote campaigner by the throat and slammed her against the wall and all the centrists said it understandable because of ‘security risks’?”
Assaulting peaceful protesters is not a good look. And one Tory MP endorsed this view last year, telling “Concerned by arrests and violence against peaceful demonstrators in Rangoon calling for an end to fighting in #Kachin on 12 May. I urge the Burmese authorities to drop charges against peaceful demonstrators, and withdraw legislation limiting peaceful assembly”. His name was, er, Mark Field.
Life comes at you fast sometimes. Mark Field has no excuses. He said so himself.
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29 comments:
Boy, he was quick to play the 'security' card, bless him. In any case, grabbing her by the scruff and pushing her out of the door is only something these bastards have been doing to the rest of us for the past 9yrs. Bastards, all.
What else to expect from a party whose once-upon-a-time leader fucked a severed pig head, whose members deliberately manufacture poverty of others, and who enrich themselves at the expense of everybody else?
Field's behaviour fits right in. As does his surname with that rightie economic thug Frank.
Looks to me like Field had indulged more than a little in expensive plonk. Or maybe previously he met up with Gove for some line dancing.
In short, he's a cowardly bullying prick with no conscience - social or otherwise. A tory.
My bet is that he wouldn't try that on with a docker or a miner.
Field resorted to violence ‘instinctively’ because a peaceful protestor, whose views he disagrees with, enraged him by her audacious presence - ironic that, he is not only involved in the Youth Violence Commission but lectures others on the violent treatment of peaceful protestors in Bangladesh. It’s obvious from the footage that the woman posed no threat to the diners at all, yet his supporters are despicably using the murder of Jo Cox to excuse his actions. Field simply couldn’t contain his vicious rage and lunged at her ‘instinctively’ like a mad man. What the heck is he like in private? Regardless of political views on climate change, Brexit, or anything else, anyone who condones this attack is an enabler.
Tory cunt ought to be arrested for assault and chucked out of office.
What nonsense! The protest wasn't peaceful and they had no right to be there. As the woman was trespassing the force used to remove her seems reasonable therefore no assault took place. All those mouthing off on social media should try their assertions in the courts.
The woman concerned was carrying a handbag that could have contained anything from a bomb or handgun to battery acid or semi-skimmed yoghurt to attack! Even with a sleeveless dress a bra can conceal weapons.
Good on him for defending the ladies in the room!
If Field "reacted instinctively" it tells you all you need to know about his instincts.
Now watch how corporate media propagandise this. Particularly the likes of Kuenssberg, Boulton and Bradby. Bullshitters all.
If a door security professional acted in that way, they'd have their SIA licence revoked. No excuse.
@ 10.48.
Christ, that's the same sort of "reasoning" Hitler used to invade Poland.
Well done.
#5
The best case interpretation for Field is that, by the time that Field had pinned her, he knew she wasn't dangerous. That's the best
Greenpeace had declared who they were. The force used was disproportionate. Round the neck? Big no,no. NO. He wasn't defending the ladies in the room, or, if he thought he was, Field has bigger problems than being a Tory in the 21st century.
@anon 10.48, do you not think that guests might have been searched for concealed yoghurt on entry? I suspect the 'bra/garrotte' is something that only exists in your fevered imagination. I grant you she might have handbagged someone, but with a table laden with potential weapons why would anyone bother. If, as Johnny Mercer attempts to justify this assault, he was not trained in these situations, then he should have stayed in his seat and left it to the professionals who were undoubtedly there in quantity. To my by no means impartial eye, it looks like he was outraged by this impertinent invasion, and thought nothing about smacking up a peaceful protester, I don't think the 'ladies in the room' passed through his 'mind' at any point as the red mist descended. If he isn't sacked for being caught at it, I won't be surprised, but if possible the tories will have sunk even lower in my opinion.
There's also the hypocrisy of these politicians who respect the suffragette movement and their actions yet, when confronted by a female activist in a sash, they attack her. Anon at 10:48 is talking out of his Tory arse if he thinks that their protest wasn't peaceful or that Field's actions were justified.
Unsurprisingly the thrust of the BBC's coverage at 1 concerned the 'security' angle. Quisling broadcaster who would have been saying 'is Hitler really all that bad?' back in the late '30s
Ironically, in April this year, the Neanderthal wrote to the Met police demanding they get a ‘firmer’ grip’ on climate change protesters:
‘I do not underestimate the challenge that the police is facing and am very grateful for all its efforts thus far. However, given the determination of the protesters to not let up and reports that they intend to continue until next Friday, I should be most grateful if, as a matter of urgency, you would take a much firmer grip on this problem and for the law to be applied to its full extent against those who, despite fair warning, insist on protesting in this anti-social way’
Love the use of Hitler, destroys any argument. Isn't personal abuse good enough for you? You fail to argue with logic, the ball has gone, so play the man, but VAR shows I am right.
Well done the gallant gentleman defending real ladies from unwanted, and who could know how dangerous, intrusion. The public are overwhelmingly on your side and would do the same in such circumstances.
And a special thanks to female comedians for showing us an insight into the minds of such people.
May had just given a green light for protesters to cause mayhem wherever they want. Terrorists take note, no one will dare touch you now for fear of the social media mob.
Well done all for making the world a safer place for the lawless.
@ 13:58 and 14:13.
All "gallant gentleman" Field had to do was stand in front of a petite middle aged lady to "defend real ladies" Hammond. Instead, he behaved like a pissed up tory Hooray Henry - accurate in its own way. Thuggery comes naturally to his type. There's one at the end of every alehouse bar.
And he "works" in the Foreign Office, currently encouraging the world's worst humanitarian disaster and mass murder in Yemen. Official state terrorism. No surprise there, then.
#14
Was the protester not a real lady?
Anon, your 'VAR' as you put it shows that Field is lying through his teeth. There's no way his actions are of the 'split second' variety that his excuse and 'apology' claim. A split second to halt her in her tracks, maybe just maybe be fair enough. But to then continue and grab her by the neck to escort her from the premises? No, no, no. That was considered and it was disproportionate. As someone else has said on here, if a doorman acted in such a manner their SIA licence would be revoked. Now, is all that logic enough for you?
Haven't been around for a while.
Fell in a VAT of Chablis and didn't want to hurry out.
Somebody should take these idiot Tories down.
I've taken bigger people down before. Ask Piers Morgan.
Just imagine how many people I could take down if I became a Sumo wrestler!
Anonymous 13:58
Genuinely, you have no worth. Get out of here; you're stinking up our screens. Let us hope your every meal is laced with itching powder.
Thanks Tim!
Big Rig,
No ladies of my acquaintance go around trespassing and committing breaches of the peace.
Was the attacker a real man?
Anon,
"No ladies of my acquaintance go around trespassing and committing breaches of the peace."
So that makes it OK to grab a woman by the neck and generally manhandle her because, in your view, she's not a lady?
Wow, you're a REAL man aren't you. What a fucking disgrace you are. I suppose the suffragettes were criminals in your book too eh?
No definitely a woman. Her husband said her mission was "to take down the government, one Tory at a time " . She failed but will not press charges. Good of her seeing she was the one breaking the law!
#25
You're stinking up the joint.
I'll box you, for charity. Meet at dawn at the old wishing well by the recreation ground.
@20.37, stop spamming these posts you're an embarrassment. Incidentally, she was the one who broke the law? Not according to former Chief Prosecutor Nazir Afzal.
'There is no justification for this
It’s an assault & should be charged as such
No question'
I think we'll take his opinion over yours.
Any defender of this woman beater should be jailed just as Field should be. Sick no marks who deserve a good time in the gaolhouse.
I see somebody has been triggered?
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