Eco-Terror Rubbish Story Withdrawn

I blogged about a rubbish story by the Observer on so-called 'Eco Terror' and why it was complete rubbish and looks more like a strategy to soften the public up for mass arrests of environmentalists. Well, after much online pressure and research by bloggers, the Observer has withdrawn the story!

Environmentalist Keith Metcalf explained that Earth First! supported direct action against property, but not against people. He believed that the debate around sustainable population size had been twisted to imply that environmentalists wished to kill people.

He also repeated the belief of several others that Nectu [the police agency who was the source for the dodgy allegations of eco-terror] was briefing in this manner in order to make prosecutions easier and to boost its funding, which is at risk owing to the decline in animal rights campaigns. I can't verify that or the fears about mass murder because, despite repeated requests, Nectu won't respond. Accordingly, The Observer has decided to withdraw the story.

Hat-tip to Ian Bone's blog for this.
-