Meinke, Andy

Meinke, Andy

Andy Meinke

13 August 2011Feature

On 13 November last year, the House of Lords gave its judgement on the long running Fairford Coach Action case. It was a complete victory on all points for Jane Laporte who had taken the test case. However, the devil is in the detail. Andy Meinke takes a goodlook at the judgement and what it means for future protests.

Just the facts M'Lud...

On 22 March 2003, three coaches carrying around 120 protesters travelled to USAF Fairford from London for an anti-war demonstration. It was the first weekend of the Iraq War. They were stopped and searched at the village of Lechlade, three miles from Fairford. After being held for two hours they were let back on the coaches, but instead of being allowed to proceed to the authorised demonstration they were forcibly escorted, non-stop, back to London. (For…