‘Double standards’ in treatment of protesters condemned by Shadow Home Secretary

There are “double standards” apparent in the treatment of protesters at Dover and Portsmouth compared with demonstrations in support of left-wing causes, according to Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp.

He told GB News: “I think there is a two-tier element. I mean, the criticism of the protests in Portsmouth and Dover, you don’t hear from the left. You don’t hear the same criticism if it’s Extinction Rebellion or Just Stop Oil or the Gaza protests or that kind of thing.

“There is an element of double standards. My own position is kind of consistent. I think protest is fundamentally part of our democracy, but it should always be lawful. So no violence, no serious disruption, and so on.

“Now on your point about people feeling they need to cover their faces because they might face repercussions, I want to see a society where people can protest and express their political views, including views that say immigration should be far, far lower than it is today. I share that view, including expressing the view that illegal immigration should be zero. And by the way, I share that view as well.

“People should be able to express those views publicly, without any fear of repercussions or intimidation or having their employers causing them a problem. I want to see a society where you can express those views with no repercussions, so people don’t even feel they need to cover their faces.

“I share those views, frankly, about immigration, it should be a lot lower. Illegal immigration should be zero. Anyone should be able to express those views publicly and freely without fear of intimidation. That’s the kind of society I want to see us living in.”

On a ban on wearing of face coverings in public, he said: “I think there are concerns that face coverings raise. It does make policing more difficult because you can’t identify who a person is, for example, using facial recognition or other technology.

“It can cause intimidation, and it can, in some circumstances, make people come across as either intimidating at protests, or just creates a sense of separateness. There are, I think, there are serious issues to consider.

“Obviously, on the other side of the coin, you’ve got questions around civil liberty. So I’m not going to just answer off the cuff, but I think this is an issue that needs to be seriously looked at. But as I say, in a protest context, the police do have the power already to require people to remove face coverings.”

He also claimed the government has an electoral motive in imposing sanctions on Israel: “They’re really doing it for domestic political reasons, aren’t they? They’re trying to shore up votes on the left and get votes back from the Green Party. That’s why they’re doing it. It’s completely transparent and rather shameless.

“And in doing it, they’re actually undermining our own national interest because it will undermine important security cooperation. What the Labour government is doing is they’re putting their party-political interest in trying to win votes on the left, especially from the Greens. They’re putting their party-political interest ahead of the national interest, which is extremely bad.”