So it's ok to protest Russia in the UK according to Government but it's a chargeable offence to protest anything else.

@BlueVeins the mayor is sending the message "yes, protest a cause we agree with, that doesn't cause us problems. If you protest something that causes us problems, might mean we have to do something, the you're arrested."

It's been going this way for at least 3 years.

@Rhode57 the protests were peaceful. The impact wasn't. What is the point of protesting if it has zero effect?

The effect of occupying a Russian house is that the Mayor of London, a government representative, gave the ok to protest about Russia. That's what I have a problem with...if they were occupying a house for extinction rebellion or BLM the Mayor wouldn't be saying it's ok.

The message is clear "protest what we agree with"

That's my issue.

@Forgetmeknot Their are rules and regulations and provided they dont break into a building cause damage etc then there is nothing anyone can do because its peaceful protest .However what extinction rebellion and blm did wasnt always peaceful and defacing statues or pulling them down etc is criminal damage in anyones book and yes would get you arrested .No one is gonna stop peaceful protest provided its not causing upset to the rest of people going about their daily lives and not a danger to others and provided the law isnt being broken .Blocking major roads is reckless and dangerous and hence there were arrests made .

@Rhode57 would the mayor speak up in favour of a peaceful protest that doesn't suit his agenda or government agenda? Would he defend the right to protest generally?

@Graylight at the moment laws vary.

@Forgetmeknot True, and the more I think about it, the more there seem to be some double standards at play (though a US truck convoy blocking commerce to protest what we've already removed is hardly the same as rebelling to keep your homeland.)

Much of it's our own fault, at least on this side of the pond. We've spiraled down and down into Karens and Kens who cry foul about cartoons and candy. Seattle protestors, bad. South Carolina protestors, bad. Minnesota protestors, bad. DC protests, bad. Blacks and gay rights protests, bad. Everybody's wanted to come down so damned hard on people protesting what they themselves don't like that we've made the very concept of protest distasteful and contrary.

And then we see a place like Ukraine, where people are protesting with fear of arrest, indefinite detention and possibly death. For a moral cause, for the right to live one's life freely. But we hate protests, remember? Degenerates protest, bigots protest, babies protest. That's how we've been seeing it here, and we stand in no place to judge what's happening in Ukraine. Many in this country have never lived through an honest-to-god war that consumes the country; we grew up on movies and ideals and we're in no place to judge what is and is not worthy protest.

@Graylight yes.

@Ambroseguy80 💯

@JonathanSJ yea, it's ok to protest as long as the government agrees with your protest - which makes protest pointless.

@ArishMell if they were occupying a house for extinction rebellion or BLM the Mayor wouldn't be saying it's ok.

@Forgetmeknot Maybe not, but that would be His Lordship playing politics where he should not.

I am as appalled by Putin's invasion of the Ukraine as those protestors are, but a bunch of self-important types forcing their way into another's property without authority is wrong whatever the cause or whoever the owner. Nor will it achieve anything at all useful.

Two wrongs do not make a right.