sexta-feira, 21 de junho de 2019

Conservative MP Mark Field grabs climate protester by the neck




Mark Field suspended as minister after grabbing climate protester by neck

Police investigate reports of assault as video shows Field forcefully removing woman

Patrick Greenfield
@pgreenfielduk Email
Fri 21 Jun 2019 11.27 BST

Mark Field has been suspended as a Foreign Office minister after a video showed him pushing a female Greenpeace activist against a pillar and grabbing her neck while she protested at the chancellor’s Mansion House speech.

Police are investigating third-party reports of assault made against Field, who has since apologised to the Greenpeace protester and referred himself to the Cabinet Office. The MP for the Cities of London and Westminster said he felt threatened when the protester went past him and was worried she might have been armed.

Dozens of Greenpeace activists disrupted Philip Hammond to draw attention to the climate crisis as the chancellor prepared to deliver his set-piece address in the City of London, video footage of the incident shows.

Labour called for Field to resign after the incident, with the shadow women and equalities secretary, Dawn Butler, calling the incident “horrific”.

In a statement released in the early hours of Friday before his suspension, Field said he had reacted “instinctively” and was “genuinely worried” that the protester may have been armed.

He said he “grasped the intruder firmly in order to remove her from the room as swiftly as possible”, adding: “I deeply regret this episode and unreservedly apologise to the lady concerned for grabbing her but in the current climate I felt I needed to act decisively to close down the threat to the safety of those present.”

Field said he had referred himself to the Cabinet Office to “examine if there has been a breach of the ministerial code and will of course cooperate fully with their investigation”.


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