However, I had a conversation with the police sergeant on the scene, who warned that strong action would be taken if any attempt was made to invade the premises and anyone attempted to do so would be arrested on a charge of criminal trespass.
According to the website,
http://www.desktoplawyer.co.uk/dtl/index.cfm?event=base:article&node=A76076BD34460,
"Trespassing is usually a civil wrong and dealt with accordingly. However, in England and Wales certain forms of trespassing, generally those which involve squatters, raves and hunt saboteurs are covered by criminal law. There are offences under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 Sections 61 and 62 of trespassing on land and trespassing with vehicles."The action of the police in using CS gas on demonstrators and the threat by Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, that police could adopt more extreme tactics means that we need to be prepared to deal with such repressive measures.
There is a lot of expertise we can draw on, for instance, among those who went to Faslane 365 a couple of years ago, and anyone who has confronted Israeli troops in Palestine.
We need to get MPs to sign the early day motion:
"That this House expresses its deep concern at the use by the Metropolitan Police of CS gas spray on UK uncut campaigners protesting at tax avoidance by Boots store; considers that this is a disproportionate use of force on peaceful campaigners; and calls on the Home Secretary to establish an independent public inquiry into this incident with a view to reviewing the guidelines for the use of CS spray by the police."But resolutions are not enough. Since the next nationwide UncutUK action on Feb 19 (see http://www.ukuncut.org.uk/blog/what-is-a-bail-in) coincides with the People's Coalition rally in Market Street, both actions are likely to encounter repressive police measures.
We need to consider how to respond to this.
