[00:00:04] Speaker A: Hi, my name is Brendan Malone and you're listening to the dispatches, the podcast that strives to cut through all the noise in order to challenge the popular narratives of the day with some good old fashioned contrarian thinking. You might not always agree, but at least you'll be taking a deeper look at the world around you.
Hi everybody, welcome along to the dispatchers. My name is Brendan Malone. It is great to be back with you again. And today's topic of conversation is about a pro lifer who has received a payout of approximately nzd27,000 from the uk police after being arrested for praying. Before we get into that story though, just a quick reminder that if you want a daily dose of the Dispatchers podcast, that's commentary from me every single day of the week, Monday through Friday. Then go to patreon.com leftfootmedia and become a five dollar monthly patron. If you do that, then you will get an exclusive patrons only episode of the Dispatchers podcast every single day of the week, Monday through Friday. The link is in today's show notes and a huge thank you to all of our patrons. It's thanks to you that episodes like this one are made possible. Alrighty, let's jump into this great news story and I'm going to read to you now from a mainstream media article about this incident. And this has only just hit the media in the last 24 hours or so. A british pro life advocate arrested twice for praying silently outside a closed abortion clinic has reached a financial settlement amid concerns about a nationwide crackdown on such activity. Under the newly installed Labor Party government, Isabelle Vaughan Spruce will receive $16,900. Now that is an american currency. And so I went and double checked what the actual payment was in british pounds that she received, and then I ran that through the currency converter and it is just over 27,500 in New Zealand currency. After filing a claim against the West Midlands police in Birmingham, England, for false imprisonment, assault and battery and breaches of her human rights, according to the UK's division of Alliance Defending Freedom. That's the ADF. There is no place for Orwell's thought police in 21st century Britain, and thanks to legal support I received from ADF UK, I'm delighted that the settlement that I have received today acknowledges that, Ms. Vaughan Spruce said in a press release after Monday's settlement. Yet despite this victory, I am deeply concerned that this violation could be repeated at the hands of other police forces. The co director of March for Life UK, Ms. Vaughan Spruce, gained global attention after being arrested in March 2023 for standing and praying outside Birmingham's Robert clinic in violation of a local ordinance against expressions of, quote, unquote, approval of disapproval with respect to issues related to abortion services near such facilities. The arrest came less than a month after she was acquitted of all charges in Birmingham Magistrates Court following her December 2022 arrest for the exact same infraction. So just so we're clear here, here is exactly what happened in December 2022. She was arrested and charged. This goes before the magistrates court, and what do they do? They clear her of all of those charges. She is acquitted, and then less than a month later, the exact same police force goes and does the exact same thing to her all over again. And just so we're clear here, this was a woman who was silently praying. No signs, no t shirts, nothing out loud, all by herself on a public footpath. Let me play you now. The two different interactions that she had with the police that have been widely circulated on social media, so you can get a feel for actually who this woman is and what really happened. And so it's very clear that there was nothing crazy, extreme or criminal happening on her part. And she's actually a very reserved and quiet lady. And in both cases, because you can't see the video, she is all by herself. And there are police officers here to interrogate and then charge her for her supposed crimes. So let's have a listen to how this first interaction with the police played out.
[00:04:34] Speaker B: Okay? Thank you. Before I ask you any questions about what's going on today, I have to caution you, which is just your rights, which is you do not have to say anything. It may harm your defense if you do not mention one question, something which you later are in court. Anything you do send me to give you.
What are you here for today?
[00:04:50] Speaker C: Physically, I'm just standing here.
[00:04:52] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:04:52] Speaker B: Why here of all places? I know you don't live nearby, but.
[00:04:55] Speaker C: This is an abortion something.
[00:04:57] Speaker B: Okay. That's what you're standing. Is you standing here part of the protest?
[00:05:01] Speaker C: No.
[00:05:03] Speaker B: Are you praying?
[00:05:04] Speaker C: I might be praying in my head.
[00:05:07] Speaker B: So I'll ask you once more. Will you voluntarily come with us now to the police station for me to ask you some questions about today and other days where there are allegations that you've broken public spaces protection?
[00:05:20] Speaker C: If I've got a choice, then no.
[00:05:22] Speaker B: Okay, well, then you're under arrest. A client's suspicion of failing to comply with the public spaces protection order, which is under the Anti Social Behaviour Crime Policing Act 2014. Now, caution you again, you do not have to anything it may harm your defence if you do not mention one question, some which are later on in court.
Do you understand the caution?
[00:05:40] Speaker C: I do.
[00:05:42] Speaker B: Your arrest is necessary in order for a prompt and effective investigation into the offence. What that means is so that I can ask you some questions and also to protect vulnerable people, namely service users in the building. Okay? So you'll accompany us now to the police station. You get booked in front of a custody sergeant and then if you want to solicitor, you can solicit her.
Okay? I don't intend to handcuff you, but obviously my colleague will search you because you're going to get your police.
[00:06:11] Speaker A: Now, what you couldn't actually see there, but you can kind of hear in process, is that a female officer then comes over and puts on a rubber glove to begin the process of searching her, I guess, for weapons or syringes or whatever else it is that these people fantasize that pro lifers are carrying on them to do harm to police officers. This is just madness of the highest order that is unfolding in this video. But that's not the only incident. Let's have a listen now to a previous incident where she had an encounter with the local constabulary for simply quietly praying in her head outside an abortion facility with no signage, nothing else, all by herself. Let's have a listen to this second incident involving the police.
[00:06:57] Speaker D: Are you here as part of an organised protest?
[00:07:01] Speaker C: No.
[00:07:01] Speaker D: You're not? Are you part of a pro life organization or pro choice organisation?
[00:07:08] Speaker C: I am, but I'm not here in that capacity.
[00:07:10] Speaker D: Okay. Are you protesting?
[00:07:12] Speaker C: No.
[00:07:14] Speaker D: Are you here to protect the lives of unborn children?
[00:07:18] Speaker C: It's a little bit leading, but no, I'm not.
[00:07:20] Speaker D: Okay. Can your action be carried out outside?
[00:07:25] Speaker C: I can pray elsewhere, but I want to pray here today.
[00:07:28] Speaker D: Right. Why have you chosen the location here to stand?
[00:07:32] Speaker C: You know this is an abortion centre that I'm standing outside of. Yeah.
[00:07:36] Speaker D: Okay.
Are you aware that there is a public space protection order in place here?
[00:07:42] Speaker C: Yes, I am.
[00:07:43] Speaker D: Okay.
Are you aware that you're breaching the public protection order?
[00:07:49] Speaker C: I'm not, no.
[00:07:50] Speaker D: Will you move from here to outside the exclusion zone?
[00:07:54] Speaker C: I don't believe I need to.
[00:07:55] Speaker D: Okay.
If not, why are you not willing to move outside of the exclusion zone?
[00:08:02] Speaker C: Because I don't believe I need to. I believe I've got a right to be here.
[00:08:05] Speaker D: Okay. Right.
If you believe that you're present to protest in any form, obviously we're going to need to issue with a fixed penalty notice.
[00:08:14] Speaker C: Sorry, can you explain that again?
[00:08:15] Speaker D: Yes, if you believe that you're present to protect in any form.
[00:08:21] Speaker C: If I believe. What? Sorry?
[00:08:22] Speaker D: If you believe that you are present to protest.
[00:08:26] Speaker C: No, I'm not here to protest, no.
[00:08:28] Speaker D: Right, well, you're in the PSPO, you're breaching it.
[00:08:33] Speaker C: I'm in the zone, yes, but I'm not protesting.
[00:08:36] Speaker D: Yes. Are you going to be given a fixed penalty notice today and that will be given to you with the offence and finding apply with the public space protection order under the anti Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014.
And my colleague's going to issue with the ticket.
[00:09:00] Speaker C: Just to make it clear. I'm not protesting. Okay, but, you know, you can't be here.
I'll just point out the PSPF in there.
[00:09:09] Speaker D: I think you've seen that before.
[00:09:10] Speaker C: I know there's a zone here, but I'm not protesting within the zone, I'm just silently praying.
[00:09:16] Speaker A: So I guess this means that clearly the UK police have lots and lots of time on their hands and no other serious crimes to solve or vulnerable lives to protect if they have time to be engaging in this kind of state regime thought policing of UK citizens. And, yeah, I did say that firmly with tongue in cheek, because I know that there are other serious crimes to be solved and more important policing duties to be done in the UK. But that doesn't matter to the regime because the regime has diverted valuable resources away from the citizenry and their legitimate purposes and they are now utilising them as their own pro abortion policing mechanism to punish people for wrong think who don't think and act according to the way the regime wants them to. Now, before I go any further, the first thing I want to say is this, number one, that I think that Isabel Vaughan Spruce, you are an absolute legend. You are a woman of great courage and I applaud you for your courage. And we need more of this kind of courage in our nations. This is the kind of stuff that actually turns the wheel. So, well done, you. And the other thing I should point out before we go any further is that New Zealand is now subject to this exact same type of legislation. We have something called the Safe Areas act, rather euphemistically titled because there's nothing safe going on at an abortion facility and there's nothing safe going on in your society when people are being criminalised in public spaces for simply engaging in legitimate and peaceful acts of freedom of expression. But we have a safe areas act which criminalises free speech within 150 metres in every direction of the perimeter boundary of an abortion facility that has been put under one of these safe area criminalisation zones. And by the way, we've already had incidents of the New Zealand police turning up to actually try and police pro life groups, and these groups were not even breaking the law. They actually took the time to figure out where the buffer zone ended and they positioned themselves well outside of that zone. But still they received a visit from the New Zealand police. So I guess police in the western world generally have a lot of time on their hands if they're able to police ideological mandates on behalf of the state, rather than actually investing their valuable time keeping citizens safe and investigating real criminal offending. Now back to the incidents involving Isabel Vaughan Spruce and her unfortunate engagement with a local constabulary. And in both incidents, you will notice she is clearly not violating the law. It is clear from the interactions, particularly you hear that in the second interaction, she is not actually doing anything illegal, she's not protesting, she is there just silently praying. But that didn't matter, they arrested her anyway because the elites don't want people hanging around reminding them of what goes on inside abortion facilities. And so she has to be punished. It doesn't matter that she's not actually breaking the law, they are there to enforce an ideology, not actual laws, it seems based on these behaviors. And the other thing that really stuck out to me in all of this is the very bureaucratic nature of this whole process. You couldn't see it in the video, but in the second interaction, the police officer is actually holding a checklist, an actual official printed checklist, in her hand, and she is working her way through that bureaucratically prepared questionnaire. And the whole thing is a exercise in elite managerial class bureaucracy, where the elites, who are actually the ones controlling the power of the throne, so they sit behind the throne, they're not elected, they're unaccountable, yet they are the ones who are actually deciding how valuable resources will be allocated, like police resources and police time, and how citizens will be treated, what policies will be made, et cetera, et cetera. Now, in a sane, moral world, that would be the final word on this issue. So Isabelle Vaughan Spruce receives her payout for this wrongful mistreatment at the hands of the UK police. But that is not going to be the end of this. Sadly, this is not looking likely to be the final word on this or the final incident of this nature. Let me carry on with what the rest of the article says. Despite the public outcry over her arrests, the British Home Office is expected to implement the Public Order act passed last year, restricting activity within 150 metres of abortion facilities, including all forms of influencing, whatever that means. Such a change would override the draft guidance issued last year by the conservative party government that said silent prayer, being the engagement of the mind and thought in prayer toward God, is protected as an absolute right under the Human Rights Act 1998 and should not on its own be considered to be an offence under any circumstances. The alliance said that the ambiguous wording of the ban has worried volunteers that engaging in consensual conversation, praying or simply offering a leaflet about help services available will lead to a criminal conviction and further breach of rights to freedom of speech and thought. The British Pregnancy Advisory Service, the nation's leading abortion provider, said the buffer zones were needed to protect medical professionals and clients from harassment and breaches of privacy, while pro life groups argued that the measures will institute thought crimes. Well, clearly no one's privacy is being threatened and no one is being harassed by a woman standing silently with no signage, no implements of protest, no noises out loud, just quietly praying to herself in her head. So clearly that won't wash as an excuse for what's going on here, the way she was treated by the police. The UK Society for the Protection of the Unborn child called it a profoundly worrying moment. And as usual, pro life men and women are on the front line of the attack on free speech. If the Home Office ignores human rights so blatantly, a dangerous precedent will be set, making thought crime a horrifying reality in the UK set a society for the Protection of the Unborn child spokesperson in a Friday statement, two other british pro life advocates, military veteran Adam Smith Connor and retired scientist Livia Tusiki Bolt, are both scheduled to face trial for holding up signs outside an abortion clinic saying, here to talk if you want.
So that's the state of play in the United Kingdom. And like I said, in a sane world, what's happened here with Isabel Vaughan Spruce and the payment that she's received here, that would be the end of the matter. But it clearly isn't going to be the end of the matter at all. And not just that, but when you actually look at what's happened in the last couple of days from the UK Home Office, you realize that this could get a whole lot worse before it gets better. This is from an article from Al Jazeera from approximately two days ago when this news was announced. UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. So this is the new Labor Party. Home Secretary has ordered a review of the United Kingdom's counter terrorism strategy on how best to tackle threats by extremist ideologies, wait for it. Including misogyny. Other ideological trends to be investigated by the Home Office include islamism and far right extremism. So what they're doing here is they are now considering misogyny as a form of terrorism. Now, why is that so concerning? Well, it is not uncommon for pro abortion activists and ideologues to do things like dress up in the handmaid's tale outfits, you know, the red and white ketchup bottle suits that they like to wear. And they protest against pro lifers and any law that might place limitations of any kind on abortion. And they consistently claim that such laws are an act of misogyny. They are about men controlling women's bodies. And if that was what was happening, it's not obviously what's happening at all, but if that was what was happening, then clearly that would be a misogynistic behaviour or practice, and it would be eligible for this kind of counter terrorist response from the UK state. So the new left wing labor state has now opened itself up, not just to thwart police, but actually to treat people who don't endorse pro abortion ideology as potential terrorists. This is how bad things have got. And this is exactly why lawfare actually matters. Because for there to be a common good within the borders of a nation, you have to have rule of law, not rule by law. So one rule for all, not powerful elites who are using the law and weaponizing it for their own ideological and political purposes. And this is why it is so important what Isabel Spruce Fawn has done here. She has engaged in a legal process of actually taking on the local constabulary. And clearly they have decided that they are in real strife here. And so they've backed down and they have paid her out, because they know that what they've done here won't actually stand proper scrutiny from the judiciary. And so this is why it's important to actually stand your ground and use the law to push back against these sorts of tyrannical behaviors. One other thing I'll say before ending this episode, and that is the pro life movement has consistently been the canary in the coal mine. And it's not uncommon. People talk about things like, for example, cancel culture. Before cancel culture was even a thing on university campuses, it's quite commonplace now. But before it was even a known and widely spoken about thing, pro lifers were experiencing cancel culture. I remember being cancelled by universities, being deliberately prevented from engaging in open public events where I was invited, as a pro lifer, to speak about the pro life ethic, even that was deemed verboten and so I was experiencing cancel culture before it was even a thing. It's very common now. That is not unusual. The pro life movement has consistently been the canary in the coal mine and it's been a good indicator of where things have been heading for a long time. Another example of this is the orwellian use of newspeak to verbal engineer and speech matters. We are now consistently bombarded by political euphemisms, news speech, ways of talking about issues which is politically loaded and completely dishonest and designed to hide the true reality of what's going on. So now they talk about abortion care, they talk about reproductive rights. We were dealing with these kinds of news speak decades ago, well before this became a normative behavior on all sorts of progressive issues. And so I would suggest to you that this is something that even if you are not particularly pro life, you should sit up and take notice of this. Because once the state realizes, and we have these exact same anti free speech zones here in new Zealand, and once the state realises that they can actually weaponise the police state against people based on pure ideological grounds, they won't stop with just pro lifers. They will start expanding this into other areas where they want to hold ideological supremacy and they want to punish people for holding dissenting views. Thanks for tuning in. Don't forget live by goodness, truth and beauty, not by lies. And I'll see you next time on the dispatches.
The Dispatchers podcast is a production of Leftfoot Media. If you enjoyed this show, then please help us to ensure that more of this great content keeps getting made by becoming a patron of our
[email protected].
leftface media link in the show notes thanks for listening. See you next time on the dispatches.
