If the public perception of the Conservative Party leadership in the UK wasn’t low enough already, a video showing one of its senior ministers manhandling a woman Greenpeace protestor and pushing her by her neck has surfaced on the internet.
In the video, Mark Field who was a Foreign Office minister – he has since been suspended by outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May – can be seen angrily slamming the woman into a wall and then forcefully escorting her out as others in the room watch.
The incident took place on Thursday, at a high profile dinner in London’s landmark Mansion House, where Finance Minister Mark Hammond was addressing ministers and leaders of the country’s financial services on Brexit and banking regulation.
The dinner was interrupted by Greenpeace protesters who shouted slogans about climate change. Mostly women, dressed in red dresses with sashes that said “climate emergency”, the protestors sought to delay Hammond from speaking.
In a subsequent statement Field said he reacted instinctively and had been “genuinely worried” that the protestor may have been armed. He said he “grasped the intruder firmly in order to remove her from the room as swiftly as possible”, adding: “I deeply regret this episode and unreservedly apologise to the lady concerned for grabbing her but in the current climate I felt I needed to act decisively to close down the threat to the safety of those present”, reported The Guardian.
There was a chorus of protests against Field from the political establishment.
Brandon Lewis Conservative party chair told the Brtish media that the event had been referred to an internal committee for investigation.
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