I hoped to attend the protest camp that was planned for Drax power station recently, at 75 years of age with limited mobility I’m not up to camping but I live in the constituency and could have managed one day with assistance. The footpath in the above photo is a shortcut to South Milford station, but it’s no longer assessable with a mobility aid so I would have to go the long way round by the road – and need assistance getting on and off the train. So it would mean a bus to Selby and then a shuttle bus laid on by the organisers who either didn’t know or didn’t disclose that Selby is the nearest station to Drax. I would’ve had to be back in Selby by 6.00pm to catch a bus home. There was a bus laid on from Leeds station, which would have been no use to me unless they could’ve picked up on the way, and I’ld still have the problem of getting home!

This all turned out to be quite academic as plans were changed because police seized tents, portaloos, and wheelchair tracks! It was already difficult for me to attend, without the latter it was bloody impossible! The organisers changed their plans and directed people to York instead of Leeds. This would’ve been even more difficult for me, I believe we now have a direct bus service to York instead of changing at Selby but I’ve never used it. Twenty people were pre-emptively arrested over a protest that didn’t take place!

It’s all part of the same pattern where planning a peaceful protest can bring a larger sentence than participating in a riot. My last experience of being in a police cell was 50 years ago and 10k miles away, I’ve no wish to repeat the experience. So whenever anyone calls me a Keyboard Warrior in a derogatory tone this blog explains why I do what I’m able to – assuming they bother to read it, which I doubt 🤔