The Camp for Climate Action has come to an end.  I expect it exceeded all the organisers’ expectations.  It drew attention to climate change – and, in particular, to aviation’s contribution.  But it succeeded in doing much more that.

Some commentators are suggesting that it might even have signalled the beginning of a new social movement in this country concerned about climate change, consumerism and unsustainable living.  That remains to be seen.  But what the camp did do was capture the imagination of the press and the public.

For me, the most interesting development was the way sections of the press, normally critical of climate change protests, began to write stories which were broadly sympathetic.  Except for one or two ‘rogue elements’ within the media, there seemed to an understanding that the protestors were making valid points.

There was a sense that this was David against Goliath and that David, however unconventional he may have looked at times, was bravely making the correct arguments about the future of the planet.

This, of course, was the camp which Goliath, in the form of BAA, tried to stop.  They asked for an injunction, under the Protection from Harassment Act, to try and stop five million members of environmental organisations from going to the Heathrow area to protest.  The High Court gave them a much scaled-down judgment against just one organisation and three named individuals (including myself) based on the trespass laws.  The judge notably refused to ban the climate camp.

The activities of the police, though, during the camp did little to reassure.  At first, they threatened to use the terrorist regulations against the protestors.  It seems they did back away from this.  We can only speculate that this might have happened when they – along with the government – began to realise that to use terrorism laws against the protestors would have made them a laughing stock in the eyes of the public.

So the camp went ahead and was a success.  But the worrying feeling remains that it just managed to escape the battery of restrictive laws which the government now has at its disposal to deal with challenges to its policies.

John Stewart is chair of HACAN ClearSkies and a spokesman for Airportwatch.