Robert Peston Robert Peston

Mark Field’s behaviour was inexcusable

The video of Mark Field pushing a Greenpeace activist by the neck is so upsetting.

The climate-change protestors were, according to the police and friends who were there, wholly peaceful. Why on earth does Field react with such ferocity? The violence of his intervention is quite wrong.

Some people are saying Mark Field was justified in shoving the protestor against the wall and then pushing her by the neck. But I don’t think you can have watched the longer clip. Because it shows Field is not being interfered with in any way and simply lashes out. Surely that is inexcusable. I am not engaging in virtue signalling by saying this, or engaging in culture wars or making any kind of political point. This is simply about the decent and appropriate way to behave. If there was any evidence the protestors threatened violence themselves, maybe there would be extenuating circumstances. But a City friend who was there texted me to say all the protestors were conspicuously ‘peaceful and well meaning’.

I have just spoken to a friend sitting close to Field, who confirms he felt the protestor posed no threat and that Field’s reaction seemed wholly disproportionate. ‘He over-reacted. It was awful’. He says what he found equally upsetting was that ‘when Mark returned to his seat a few people actually applauded’. My friend thought the applause was inappropriate, and showed that the protestors elicited a kind of sectarian tension in the audience.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Robert Peston
Written by
Robert Peston
Robert Peston is Political Editor of ITV News and host of the weekly political discussion show Peston. His articles originally appeared on his ITV News blog.

Topics in this article

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in