CROYDON is not short of work for the Metropolitan Police. Shoplifting, vandalism, fly-tipping, stabbings, sexual assaults, drug-dealing – crimes that occur daily in this unloved borough on the southern edge of Greater London. But on Sunday at least six officers spent a whole afternoon monitoring and harassing a group of critical thinkers who had gathered for speeches and songs.
As we were setting our stall for a ‘Stand in the Park’ event, two police vans arrived. There were fewer than a hundred of us, mostly in our 50s and older, and we occupied a small area in the middle of Lloyd Park. Elsewhere on the green expanse were two groups of young Muslim men: one playing cricket, another playing volleyball. There was plenty of space for everyone. The police had no good reason to be there, except that they had obviously been given orders to shut us down.
As the police discussed strategy in the car park a hundred yards away, a Croydon council pick-up truck drove towards us. The friendly chap at the wheel, on learning of our modest plans for the afternoon, made just one condition: that we take our rubbish away with us. That should have been the end of our engagement with the authorities.
Then three officers came towards us, and were met half-way by members of the Croydon council team, keeping them away from our assembly. ‘We have been briefed . . .’ said the burliest of the officers. Their ‘intelligence’ was that we were planning an illicit rave, with a sound system and no licence. Our group were unlikely ravers, and our only source of amplification was a small, battery-operated public address (PA) speaker. The officers were right about the licensing, but that is a civil matter.
We were warned against any amplification, and reluctantly decided not to risk using the PA, even at the low and permissible decibel level that we intended. The police would use any excuse to confiscate not only that but also some valuable recording equipment. So we got started without a microphone.
Simone Plaut gave an informative talk on how to stay healthy in an increasingly toxic environment, caused by contaminated food and water supply, and chemtrails. I was the second speaker, my speech titled ‘Not Zero: Saving our Community Assets’ urged folk to frequent their local pubs and frustrate government efforts to atomise society.
The third or fourth intervention by the police was to serve papers to halt the event. But the problem was that there was nobody to receive the papers – we had no identifiable organiser! Stand in the Park, for the uninitiated, began as an informal meeting place for sceptics during the covid regime, and it continues in public parks across the world. There are no leaders.
Retreating to the car park with their impotent papers, officers pondered on their next move. We got on with our event regardless, Fiona Murray of the East Surrey Residents Association (does that sound like dangerous extremism?) spoke on the creep of digital surveillance. Lisa Hutchinson, a science journal editor, described the corruption of science by vested interests such as Big Pharma.
Police came over again. There were now two vans and an unmarked car, and they meant business. The officers demanded the name and address of one of the Croydon team, who had been politely challenging them. Another of our group stepped in to offer to provide the name of a lawyer. ‘Why would you do that?’ an officer asked. ‘Because you’re the police’ was the succinct reply.
You might think that the police would have better things to do than to target an entirely peaceful gathering who were not causing any nuisance. Surely they would be more effectively deployed on the mean streets of central Croydon and its hinterlands? In fact, they did not have to look far for actual crime. A youth associated with the volleyball players was riding around the park on a small motorcycle. The irony of threatening us for a tiny PA while ignoring the noisy miscreant was eventually too much for the police to justify, and after over an hour of allowing this clear breach of the law they confiscated the motorbike.
Musicians followed the speakers, impeded by lack of amplification and a heavy rain shower, but they overcame the adversity. Mad Mix gained full audience participation for his rap ‘Killer Covid’ and a rude ditty about Matt Hancock. Everyone realised that just by being there, and standing our ground, we were winning.
This was a triumph of principled ordinary people against blatant political policing.
