Tim Bonner: Extremists vandalise iconic fishing shop

The iconic fishing shop Farlows has been selling tackle and providing advice to fishermen stranded in London since 1840. Last week a confused group of activists called Animal Rebellion decided to protest (against what it is difficult to ascertain) by pouring red paint all over Farlows' famous shop.

Any visit to its flagship Pall Mall shop is a pleasure and I always like to think that the heroes of John Buchan novels would have stopped by before their trips to the Scottish Highlands and that Sir Edward Grey, Britain's longest serving Foreign Secretary and obsessive fly fisherman, would have stopped in to stock up on his favourite dry flies before leaving town for his beloved River Itchen.

What damage these fictional or non-fictional figures have done to the environment is not quite clear. Nor does Animal Rebellion seem to have any foundation for attacking the fisherman of today. I am sure that the fisherman and real conservationist, Feargal Sharkey, who has done more than anyone in recent years to highlight current environmental concerns about our rivers, is a customer, as will be hundreds of committed anglers who commit a significant part of their lives to conserving the rivers that they love.

According to an Animal Rebellion spokesman: "We know that animal farming and fishing is the key cause to the climate crisis". Apart from being illiterate this is also utterly illogical. We "know" nothing of the kind and anyone who claims to is quite obviously scientifically, as well grammatically, illiterate.

If Animal Rebellion had a semblance of logic or sense it would be shouting from the rooftops about the work these fishermen do to conserve and protect rivers and fish in the face of constant threat from development, extraction and pollution. The fact that they do the opposite is not a judgment on Farlows or its customers, it is an indictment of a frankly stupid protest by a clueless campaign group.

Sadly, this sort of mindless activism actually divides people who should have common goals and damages the causes it claims to champion. Like much of the extremes of the environmental and animal rights movement, the overt politics and prejudice drown out what could be important messages about climate change and bio-diversity decline. We can only hope that those who engage in mindless vandalism under the cloak of protest are punished, and that those who may have been duped into championing them realise that their support is entirely misplaced.