There may seem to be little connection between the thugs who wreaked havoc at the West Ham/Millwall game on Tuesday and the Climate Change protestors who occupied Blackheath last evening.  One group are only interested in satisfying their own selfish need for violence whilst the other are doing something positive to help save our endangered planet.  Football and Climate Change are two things I feel very deeply about - but in very different ways this weeks has seen actions by other peopel raise serious questions about both of them.

I love football and regularly watch games at all levels from non-league to international and I was disgusted to see the outbreak of hooliganism on such a scale.  Those who took part need to be identified and treated like the criminals they are – banning them from attending football matches for life should be a given but is no substitute for heavy fines and prison sentences.  We cannot allow a return to the days when going to a football game was a fearful and frightening experience for decent, ordinary supporters.  The way the whole game was handled in terms of ticket distribution and policing will also need to be studied to ascertain if there are any lessons for the future.  The vast majority of games pass off without incident and cause no grief beyond the pain of seeing a bunch of so called professional sportsmen who are paid more in a week than most of us earn in a year demonstrate that even the most basics skills of trapping, passing and shooting elude them while the team slides towards relegation.  The best story about football supporters in the last few weeks was the way they responded to the death of Sir Bobby Robson – thousands standing and clapping to honour his memory – not just at the clubs he was associated with but up and down the land – now that’s how real football supporters behave.  Those of us who love the game must not let the thugs drive us away.

So what about the Climate Change Campers?  They could hardly be more different - committed people trying to do something about an important issue.  And of course millions of us, myself included are desperately worried about the all too obvious effects of climate change.  I am lucky in that as Mayor I can actually put into effect measures that will help to reduce the impact of climate change.  Some are small and symbolic like insisting that the official car used for civic occasions is small electric hybrid not a big gas-guzzler.  Others have a wider impact I hope like Lewisham’s approach to the use of energy – where we try to reduce the amount we use and source that which we purchase from “green” producers wherever possible.

There is, of course, much more to be done but the single most important thing that has happened in the fight against climate change in the last year is the election of a US president who both understands the issue and is committed to doing something about it.  The problem with the Campers is that no matter how well intentioned and nice they are what they are doing is counterproductive in my opinion.  It will be seen as self indulgent by lots of people who are struggling through the recession and could even make it harder to win support for some of the difficult measures that will have to be taken in the future.  And who do you think is going to have to pay to take the rubbish away, provide water and repair the Heath when they’ve gone?  That’s right you and me – the taxpayers of Lewisham who were never asked and never agreed to the camp being here.

Thinking that that the approach of  the Climate Change Campers uis wrong doesn’t mean you don’t care about the issue – but for me they are a distraction from the real task of changing how we behave and persuading ever more of our fellow citizens to change the way they behave too.

I’ll continue to go to football games and to fight climate change despite the stupidity of the hooligans and the patronising selfishness of the campers.  Some things are just too important to let other people's stupidity put you off!

Steve Bullock