The news this morning has featured a guest appearance by one Mark Field, a Tory MP who was filmed yesterday ejecting a climate change protestor from a private function he was attending last night. The problem being that the climate change protestor in question was a woman about half his size and was making a peaceful protest. Mark Field's reaction was... less than peaceful.
Mark Field has this morning made an unreserved apology, submitted himself to the Cabinet Office for investigation, and been suspended as a minister. He also claims that his actions were motivated by a genuine fear that she was a threat to those present.
Well... okay.
What we have now is a test of the system. What should happen now is that the police should launch an investigation, arrest Mark Field and interview him under caution, and he should almost certainly be charged. Then the courts can decide whether the actions that he took were proportionate to the level of threat (both perceived and real).
At the end of that process it might be the judgement of the court that he acted appropriately. Or it might not be, and he will find himself imprisoned.
But the system must be seen to work.
If not, then the lesson is quite simple: the system doesn't work. Either we all live under the rule of law, or none of us do. And that's a genie I think we really don't want to be letting out of its bottle.
(I should also note: the protestors should also be arrested and charged accordingly, which probably means some variant of trespass and/or breach of the peace. Because the system has to work for everyone.)
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