The Line We Crossed

Today I was wiped out with tiredness from the journey - silly me to think I was over it! I retreated to bed in the afternoon, feeling cold and shivery.

I'm glad that I made myself go to Haltwhistle for a screening of the film The Line We Crossed. It is a documentary, filmed in 2023 and 2024 by Liz Smith (on the chair in my photo).

She followed a group of climate protestors who staged a summer of peaceful protests, but caused a lot of disruption in London. 

(My own view at the time was that they were not really furthering the cause, but antagonising a lot of people.)

I was surprised and challenged when I heard how things panned out.

Here is a synopsis of the film:
A nonviolent civil resistance group is demanding the UK government stop licensing new oil, gas and coal projects in the face of the climate emergency. The more they resist, the more the government clamps down on their right to protest and subjects them to arrests and harsh prison sentences. This film exposes the chilling effect of draconian laws being passed that affect the democratic rights of all British citizens. Are we at a tipping point of no return for our democratic rights as well as for the climate crisis?


As we watched the film, we saw how the government made changes to the law, so that peaceful protestors could be imprisoned, some for quite lengthy sentences. The judges (one in particular) imposed heavy sentences, all for peaceful protests.

Trudy, speaking expressively in my image, was arrested and charged with contempt of court. She was sitting outside the courthouse while protestors were tried and held a banner saying "Jurors have an absolute right to acquit a defendant depending on their conscience". These words are carved in marble on a plaque inside the Old Bailey and are called "jury equity". They refer to a case in 1670 where a jury refused to convict two Quakers despite the judge's instruction.

Guardian article about Trudi

It seems that our rights to peaceful protest have been reduced greatly. A number of Just Stop Oil activists are still in prison. 

There is a lot more to the story, so try to see the film if there is a showing near you. Needless to say, no film distributor would take this film on.

When I came away after the Q&A, I felt that I could not process what I had seen. I was also hungry, because I made the mistake of not eating before the meeting!

Trudi has been a regular attender at our walking festival over many years, so I knew her already, but I had not heard about her arrest or seen the several Guardian articles about her.