And yet the thing which keeps nagging me is the occupants' attitude to the law. They have used the courts to prevaricate and delay the inevitable for years. Each time the courts have ruled in their favour, the residents have expected Basildon Council to respect the judgment, and Basildon have complied, jumping through the legal hoops set for them at vast expense to Council Tax payers.
But when the courts have ruled for Basildon do the occupants comply? No. They barricade themselves in and threaten violence, making necessary this morning's militaristic-looking adventure. The residents can't have their cake and eat it. If Basildon Council had regarded the law in the same way as the residents, the bulldozers would have been into Dale Farm years ago.
