COLIN CAMPBELL: Just Stop Oil and anti-royal extremists should face tough sanction for disruptive antics
When I went to Edinburgh for the Queen’s funeral the crowds were so dense that it was possible to get a few glimpses of St Giles Cathedral and the royal procession over the heads of others and through the forest of raised camera phones, but not much more.
And yet at the Coronation of King Charles in Edinburgh a group of anti-monarchy protesters had no such difficulties in seeing what was going on. They were given Gold Circle treatment by being allocated a prime position just yards from the cathedral to display their banners, yell out their slogans and make a resounding republican racket. People standing alongside them who had gone along to enjoy a historic occasion said they marred or even ruined it for them.
Why were rabid opponents of the King allocated such an excellent vantage point? It can only be because the authorities were bending over backwards to be “inclusive and respectful of others” – the modern-day mantra now pumped out everywhere, including over the tannoy at my local supermarket – and decided that an alternative voice, albeit one filled with rasping, jeering venom should also be heard on the day. These people had every right to protest but it was perverse to give them centre stage to do so.
Further south, around the same time extremists from Just Stop Oil were having a field day at Wimbledon. They romped around two tennis courts scattering confetti and jigsaw puzzles. Furious fans booed them but otherwise had to sit on their hands and do nothing while these clowns held up play and tried to spoil their day.
They could of course rely on getting a sympathetic response from sections of the media, and the likes of Gary Lineker. This beneficiary of a £1.3 million BBC salary glibly declared: “I think what is more important is probably our existence in the future than slight disruption of sporting events.”
What he failed to acknowledge was the fact that the threat posed by the Just Stop Oil mob had already caused massive disruption to tens of thousands of people trying to gain entry to the tournament.
The Queue, as it’s known almost with affection, is an integral part of Wimbledon. I’ve been there, and the atmosphere is normally relaxed and convivial. It’s not like waiting for a bus. The time seems to pass surprisingly quickly.
But this year searches to keep extremist louts out resulted in exhaustingly long delays to gain tickets for entry, with people just giving up and leaving after waiting for hours. So the impact of the oil mob was much more than a few idiots prancing around with their confetti and jigsaws. It ruined what should have been a memorable Wimbledon experience for many.
I’ve been at tennis tournaments in other countries, including in Madrid this year, where there are security checks but no disruption. Why is that? Very likely because zealots there know they’d be on the receiving end of a response which would be much more robust than the softly, softly one in which the would be wreckers were gently ushered off the courts at Wimbledon. Terrified of appearing “heavy-handed”, Wimbledon officials barely laid a hand on them. It’s a wonder they weren’t afterwards confined in the Royal Box.
Yes, we should all aim to be inclusive and respectful of others. But increasingly that means giving way to extremist rabble rousers while they gleefully indulge in their ruinously disruptive antics.
Many people are sick to death of small minorities ruining the day and the occasion for everyone else. After they’ve caused so much trouble they’re too often treated with kid gloves and can look forward to a slap on the wrist in court. Such a woefully inadequate response is an open invitation to carry on clowning and disrupting. The punishment meted out should reflect the feelings of seething anger and frustration in that normally buoyant Wimbledon Queue.
