Batman and Robin quit (U.K.) protest group (The Guardian)

[Up2Late]

Batman and Robin quit protest group

You've heard of the Real IRA. Now meet Real Fathers4Justice, the caped crusaders who refuse to give up the fight

Sandra Laville
Thursday June 9, 2005
The Guardian

Spiderman took over Tower Bridge, Santa Claus closed the Severn crossing and Batman scaled Buckingham Palace, not to mention the most memorable stunt: the lobbing of a condom filled with purple powder at the Labour frontbench.

Derided and celebrated in equal measure, the antics of the superhero-clad crusaders of Fathers4Justice undoubtedly grabbed attention. They even appeared to be working when the president of the high court's family division, Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, admitted that the present family court system was open to criticism, much of it well-founded.

But as Monty Python fans can attest, where there is radicalism there are always cries of splitter. Two and a half years on from the formation of Fathers4Justice some of its superheroes have quit to form a breakaway group, angry at what they see is its creeping conservatism and a departure from direct action.

"You know there's the IRA, right," David Chick, who held a crane top protest on Tower Bridge dressed as Spiderman, said yesterday. "Well, I'm not saying we are like the IRA, but it's like when the Real IRA formed. What we are is the RealF4J and in the next few months it's going to kick off - because the fight goes on."

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