Greenpeace tell Shell to get out of the Arctic

Early on Tuesday morning I took a train to London to a secret location where a group of Greenpeace activists were gathering ready for an action on the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square.  I was a little bit early so I sat with a cup of coffee watching the world go by - and a few familiar faces go by as well.  I was acting as legal support, which meant that for most of the time I would have a very boring time but if activists were arrested then I would swing into action, contacting our solicitor, finding out to which the activists had been taken and then meeting and briefing the solicitor and, at the end of the day, greeting the activists as they were released from the police cells and making sure they got home safely and had something to eat and drink.  This time it was perfectly obvious where the activists would be taken as there is one of the biggest police stations in London just the other side of Trafalgar Square from the National Gallery where the action was due to take place.  Shell had sponsored an evening at the National Gallery to try and convince 'the great and the good' that drilling in the Arctic was not risky and there would be no threat to the environment.  Anong the great and the good were John Sauven and Doug Parr from Greenpeace in London.  No doubt Shell thought it was a great coup having Greenpeace on the inside with them - perhaps they thought our presence would give the whole thing credibility!  What they didn't bargain for however was Greenpeace on the OUTSIDE of the building - and Paula the bear, who proved a great attraction to the passing crowds.  Paula is a bit like a pantomine horse - sorry, but I'm giving away trade secrets here - she has 2 people inside her.  A very hot and sweaty job, considering how hairy Paula is.  Also they have no way of seeing out so Paula had a 'minder' with a radio contact to the people inside Paula - right a bit, stop, left a bit, stop.  The worry was whether the climbers would get safely onto the roof, seeing as the National Gallery is home to a lot of very expensive paintings, we expected security to be a bit excitable to say the least.  Anyway, they did get on the roof without mishap or arrest and stayed there to hang their banner (see the video below).  They came down at around 8.30 and we as legal support were expecting them to be arrested but they weren't.  I think the police saw 8 climbers with all their kit - ropes and assorted metalwork - looked at their watches and decided they wouldn't be getting home on time if they arrested them, booked them in and processed them.  They just wanted to go home, bless them.  Being legal support can be a very boring job.  We have to stay away from where the action is taking place, with a phone at hand the whole time.  We get to find out very little about what is going on and can't go near the action just in case we get arrested (what use would we be then?) then we are only called on if things don't go according to plan but we are essential to the action.  Without the knowledge that we are there in the background to support them and get them legal representation and generally look after them, the activists would not have so much confidence to do the stuff they do and risk arrest.