A Labour donor has called on the government to review a sentencing regime that led to a climate protester being given a longer prison sentence than a Southport rioter who punched a police officer in the face, as he derided what he called “two-tier sentencing”.
Dale Vince, the green energy entrepreneur who has given millions of pounds to Labour, said it was “absurd” that a Just Stop Oil protester received a five-year prison sentence for their role in conspiring to cause gridlock on the M25 while a man pleading guilty to violent disorder received a significantly shorter sentence.
“I’ve seen the claim of two-tier policing [of the rioting],” Vince told the Observer. “It’s a kind of Trump-style tactic that can inflame tensions. It’s obviously bollocks. What I think we are seeing is two-tier sentencing.
“There was a guy this week who got three years for punching a copper in the face. He was photographed throwing bricks. [Just Stop Oil co-founder] Roger Hallam took part in a zoom call to talk about blocking the M25 and he got five. I think that needs to be addressed really. The difference between the peaceful protests and the rioting is chalk and cheese.
“It’s almost beyond belief that there would be any conflation or that you could get less for rioting than you can get for peaceful protest. Albeit highly disruptive – I accept that – they didn’t attack a police station. They didn’t burn down a library or set fire to police cars or injure a whole bunch of coppers. I think that’s absurd.”
Vince said the Labour government should review the controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act (PCSCA) under which Hallam and four other Just Stop Oil protesters were convicted last month. Under that Act, the crime of committing a public nuisance can come with a sentence of up to 10 years.
It was enacted in 2022 in the wake of direct action campaigns, with the government citing disruption caused by the Extinction Rebellion group. The law was criticised by civil liberty groups as a clampdown on legitimate peaceful protest.
Lawyers in the case involving Hallam cited the contrast between the sentences being discussed and those for violent disorder. However, the judge effectively said that it was “the will of parliament”.
Drawing a contrast with the Just Stop Oil protesters, Vince pointed to the sentencing of Derek Drummond, 58, who pleaded guilty to violent disorder and assaulting an emergency worker during the riot in Southport on the day after the killing of three young girls. He received a three-year sentence last week.
“It is completely disproportionate and inconsistent,” Vince said. “Roger Hallam was sentenced under recent changes the Tories made to sentencing guidelines and the new anti-protest laws they brought in.
“I’m hoping that, at some point, Labour will get round to reviewing those laws and revoking them – the ones that make peaceful protest such a crime in our country. I think that what’s happened with these rioters just makes it very clear that Just Stop Oil protesters were singled out for incredibly harsh treatment.”
Vince announced in the Guardian last year that he was ending his financial support for Just Stop Oil, saying further disruption by the group would be “counterproductive” and would help “feed the Tories’s culture-war narrative”.
He instead went on to fund a campaign designed to boost the youth vote at the election as well as donating to Labour.
