Within Power Lies Shame!

Part 2 - Redirecting the Power

Cuadrilla Resources Limited (Cuadrilla) have spent a great deal of time and money in their lamentable attempts to hydraulically fracture (frack) for shale gas in Lancashire. The most notable, the exploratory well at Preese Hall Farm, Weeton, led to a fracking moritorium after a number of earth tremors in April 2011 were confirmed as being directly attributable to Cuadrilla's activities.

As it became clear Lancashire was to become the front line in the campaign against unconventional drilling in England protest groups began to form to fight Cuadrilla's ambitions to frack Lancashire.

Following their 'success' in 2013 at Balcombe Reclaim the Power (RTP) moved the focus of their anti-fracking protests to Cuadrilla and the Preston New Road site. Several events carried out by RTP between 2014 and 2018 received media attention, however, a look behind the headlines finds a very different story to the one RTP would have us believe.

On the 7th of August 2014 local anti-fracking groups, local residents and The Lancashire Nana's, led by Tina Louise Rothery, took a field on Preston New Road (PNR) as a form of non-violent direct action against Cuadrilla. The plan was for the first week to be local groups and residents of the Fylde with Reclaim the Power joining them in support on the 14th August for two weeks to "share skills, meet friends, participate in workshops and take mass civil disobedience".

Ms Rothery who was instrumental in RTP joining the protest on the field, initially named "Operation Mothers and Grandmas", explained at a "pre-camp" meeting at the Hilton Hotel that "local groups had called 'Reclaim the Power' - it wasn't them saying 'Hey! we're coming to invade Blackpool'". What the people at the meeting were unaware of, and what the authors of The Green Wash subsequently learned, is that it wasn't local groups that had called RTP but rather Ms Rothery had contacted the organisers directly and, following a conversation, they agreed to move their camp destination from the original proposed site to PNR.

On, or close to, the 17th August 2014 Darren Nesbit, an anti-fracking campaigner who had previously stayed on the Barton Moss camp to assist in the fight against IGas, arrived on the field and began to erect his tent. Mr Nesbit had been there approximately 15 minutes when he was approached by a group of men and women from Reclaim the Power. What ensued was neither peaceful nor just, everything we, as campaigners, are supposed to be fighting for.

Reclaim the Power approach Darren Nesbit

Mr Nesbit, pitched close to families with children, made it clear on a video uploaded to YouTube he felt he had had no issues with anyone prior to the group arriving to talk to him.

As can be seen from the above picture the group were very intimidating. In fact they were so alarming at the start of the recording one of the young boys can be heard to say "I have no idea what this is", to which his mother responds "oh my word, stunned, we're going to move" as the group get closer. One member of the group, presumably the nominated spokesperson, stepped forward and introduced herself as the Organiser from Pennsylvania. In an attempt at polite conversation, in what was a hugely intimidating and embarrasing situation for all those witnessing it, she thanked Mr Nesbit for all the effort he had put in to fighting fracking. However, she then proceeds to inform Mr Nesbit he has to leave as he is making people feel uncomfortable.

Despite Mr Nesbit trying to defend himself and ask what was it that made people feel uncomfortable and what could he do change it the group could not reply but rather got even more intimidating and verbally obnoxious.

When Mr Nesbit accused the group of "ganging" up on him the reply came "if you respect the community and the consensus...". Later on in the video a member of Reclaim the Power can be heard to shout "they know what you are, they know you're a bully" when in reality all the on-looker can see is Mr Nesbit being bullied. By this time however, children of families camped near Mr Nesbit were beginning to feel distressed and alarmed at what, by now, had become a quite heated conversation with one of mothers clearly being heard to say "I've never known anything like this". When the father attempts to reason with the group saying "you're upsetting my kids now" a female member of RTP responds with "why don't you take them away then".

The parents of the children further elucidate with "... We were just sat here having a chat." "...My daughter's and Carries' son is here, we're both very upset by this". One of the mothers, pointing at her son says "...This is distressed, look at him".

The final parting shot recorded a Reclaim the Power member being far from empathetic or understanding just responding instead with "why don't you take him home then".

The video clearly shows all the passive, and at times not quite so passive, aggression coming from representatives of RTP who were attempting to evict Mr Nesbit, from an illegally squatted field, at a peaceful protest event organised by residents and groups from the Fylde.

A damning comment left on one of our blog posts enunciated "At that same field, while the Nana camp was there, RTP held some sort of event. I went there to meet friends because someone we knew was Djing. We arrived and were confronted with an ugly scene as Darren Nesbit was being bullied and harrassed. ...Things like this were just part of the reason that many who were active in 2017 at PNR actively discouraged the involvement of the group."

A post left under the original YouTube video upload reads, with apologies for the dyslexia by the author, "OK lens [lets] put the cat amongst the pigeoens [pigeons]. Within 15 mins of my arrived [arrival] on Sunday Maria mad dog properly spray [say] properly the Queen of mean. Saw fit to approach me, cause [accuse] me of photographing a "nanas" number plate, demanded I hand over my phone for examination, stood with her nose touching mine, told me she was going to "punch my lights out " access [accuses] me of being a woman hater, (I used the word woman) against disabled people (I called her mental;) had 6 or so of her gang surrounding while she publicly abused me, one of which oliver proceeded to take my facial photo from a 2 ft away...".

As video recordings of the event, quickly uploaded to YouTube and Facebook circulated, people watching were shocked at the intimidation and bullying with discussion amongst fellow anti-frackers and viewing members of the public quickly becoming rife. Even if members of RTP had thought Mr Nesbit to be an "uncomfortable" camping companion there is a right way and a wrong way to do things and this, quite clearly, from a humanitarian point of view, is the wrong way to do it. The whole incident appeared to the on-looker to be just an excercise in power and control.

Whilst many may feel, although making for highly uncomfortable viewing, the incident to be fairly innocuous, as it only directly affected one person, it must not be forgotten that others on site, watching with disbelief and dismay, also became, indirectly, victims of the hate fest. The ramifications of the action was also to prove very much greater than initially perceived as local and national anti-frackers began to divide, to a much greater degree than ever before, with sides forming and arguments ensuing. What the incident had also done, in that moment, was put Reclaim the Power and Tina Louise Rothery, as their close contact, very much in control by effectively shifting the balance of power away from local residents and campaign groups. In deciding amongst themselves, irrespective of local wishes, who could and could not join the protest the incident became one of the first, but vitally important steps, in the hijacking of the Lancashire anti-fracking campaign by Reclaim the Power and Tina Louise Rothery.

Coming soon: Part Three - The Power Trip