Peter Marshall | >Re-PHOTO

CETA, Iraq, Highwalks & HP – 2014

CETA, Iraq, Highwalks & HP: On Friday 26th September 2014 I photographed a protest against the finalising of CETA, a trade agreement between Canada and the EU negotiated in secret which would allow large companies to challenge democratic decisions taken by governments. After this I went to College Green, until recently listed as a public park but now often closed by police to stop protesters appearing in TV interviews there of politicians, where people were attempting to protest against the bombing of Iraq.

From Westminster I went into the City of London and had time for a walk taking panoramic pictures mainly of the highwalks which are under threat of demolition to allow a higher density of commercial development before photographing a picket at Hewlett-Packard’s offices against their major role in IT support of the Israeli war machine.

CETA Trade Deal Threat to Democracy

Dept Business, Innovation & Skills

CETA, Iraq, Highwalks & HP - 2014 — *Protesters pose in front of Big Ben on their way from the BIS to Europe House*

War on Want, the World Development Movement, Occupy London and others came to protest when it became known that the EU and Canada were today to initial the CETA Treaty which would hand over unchallengeable powers to big business to override governments and democracy, and put company profits above all other interests. This was a small emergency protest called at very short notice in advance of a #noTTIP day of action to take place in London on 11th October 2014.

Negotiations over the treaty, the Canada and European Union (EU) Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement) and its wider equivalent TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) had been carried out in strict secrecy, with the documents on them to be locked away for thirty years.

The treaties include the process known as ISDS (Investor-State Dispute Settlement) which greatly affects the ability of governments to make legislation, with legal action bypassing UK and other national courts to be decided by international arbitration tribunals where the loss of potential profits come above any consideration of public interest.

In 2014 there were already around 500 documented cases of big companies attempting to use ISDS powers to challenge democratic decisions around the world, including A Swedish company suing Germany for phasing out nuclear power and a French company suing Egypt because they have increased the minimum wage and introduced other measures to improve the conditions of workers. The UK had dropped proposals for plain packaging for cigarettes as the companies had threatened they would sue as it would cut cigarette sales and so their profits.

ISDS allows big business to challenge food safety regulation, green legislation and other vital measures, and curb protests against fracking and dirty energy, GMO, the arms trade and any other profitable corporate activities. It would also stop efforts to prevent the privatisation of the NHS.

The protest began outside the Dept of Business, Industry and Skills and went on to the London base of the European Parliament, stopping briefly outside the Houses of Parliament and handing out leaflets against the corporate power grab.

CETA was provisionally introduced in 2017 and has eliminated almost all existing tariffs and increased transatlantic trade but has not been ratified by ten EU states. The French Senate voted against it in 2024. Talks are now taking place on a replacement. Since Brexit is no longer applies in the UK and a new trade agreement with Canada came into force on 1 April 2021. ISDS continues under various other trade agreements.

CETA Trade Deal Threat to Democracy

Don’t bomb Iraq

Westminster

TV news often interview politicians on College Green, long always open to the public and housing a well-known Henry Moore statue, an small groups of protesters have often gone their to be seen and heard in the background of these interviews. And a few had come today when Parliament was debating the bombing of ISIS in Iraq

*A large banner along the edge of College Green*

Until recently it had been listed as a public park by Westminster Council but in 2014 new notices were put up stating it was a part of the Parliamentary estate, and they reserve the right to close the area to the public at any time. The area is now often completely closed to the public and police stop protesters entering it while TV crews are working there.

There was also a small group against the bombing protesting on the pavement in Parliament Square.

Don’t bomb Iraq

City Walk, High Walk

City of London

*Basinghall St and the fenced off Bassetlaw Highwalk*

Planners for the rebuilding of the City of London after the devastation of the Second World War had created an ambitious plan for the separation of pedestrians and traffic in much of the city with a series of ‘highwalks’.

But it was only ever implemented in limited areas of the City in particular around London Wall and the Barbican and where a new road, Upper and Lower Thames Street cut through the old City close to the River Thames. Despite the extensive bomb damage, much of the old London remained firmly at Street level.

Back in the 1980s and 1990s I had photographed extensively from these highwalks and in the 90s made a number of panoramic images which were exhibited and published.

In 2014 much of the highwalks south of London Wall and a large area directly to the north were being demolished to allow a higher density of commercial development in the area and I took a short walk to photograph some of what remained. In the 1990s I had worked with specialised swing-lens panoramic film cameras, but now I was able to work much more easily with a digital camera and software.

*Shakespeare bust in St Mary Aldermanbury Garden, Love Lane*

As well as on the highwalks I also made images at street level, particularly in the area around the Guildhall. The digital panoramas have a much wider vertical angle of view than my earlier film images and are here shown in full in a normal 3:2 aspect ratio, though usually I have cropped them top and bottom to a more panoramic format such as 16:9.

More at City Wall, High Walk.

Hewlett Packard Stop Supporting Israeli Military

Wood St, City

*Protesters with banners opposite HP’s offices on Wood St*

I had previously photographed protests by the Inminds human rights group Palestinian Prisoners Campaign outside the offices of security firm G4S, where 2 years of pickets perhaps played a part in their decision to pull out of Israeli prisons.

They had decided now to picket at Hewlett-Packard which boasts of ‘a massive presence’ in Israel and are the IT backbone for the Israeli war machine.

More pictures: HP told Stop Supporting Israeli Military.

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Surbiton Festival Market & Grand Parade – 2004

Surbiton Festival Market & Grand Parade: On Saturday 25 September, 2004 I went to Surbiton for the annual Surbiton Festival on the 4th Saturday in September. Surbiton is a suburban area to the south of Kingston and when it was first developed in the 1840s was known as Kingston-upon-Railway, although the name Surbiton has older roots from the Old English Suth Bere-tun – an outlying farm on the south (of Kingston’s River Hogsmill.) Kingston also has a Norbiton to the east of Kingston but north of the Hogsmill – but it doesn’t have its own festival.

In the Victorian and early twentieth century Surbiton very much grew up around its railway station, unlike Kingston’s on the main line out of Waterloo to the south-west. Although many trains hurtle though it at speed it is still a major commuter station and the festival and fair take place in streets close to it, with local shops and others mounting stalls.

I didn’t write much about it in 2004, apart from some picture captions – here is my entire text:

“Saturday was Surbiton, an oddly isolated suburb of Kingston, which has a festival with a grand parade and a little old-fashioned community spirit that I admire. Pity about the rain though. The Surrey Starlets were impressive, despite coming from Chessington.”

*Kingston is on the River Thames, and so has Sea Scouts*

*Four accordions outnumbered the rest of the Morris dancers*

This year’s Surbiton Festival is tomorrow, Saturday, 26th September and the parade starts at noon on St Andrews Road. I rather doubt if I will be there this year, but in 2004 I was still busily photographing community events such as this, which then seemed very much a thing from the past. But from the festival site it seems to have changed little now, even to have expanded slightly, with scouts, guides, army cadets, dance groups, sports, a marching band, motorcycles and classic cars.

Some more pictures from 2004 here on My London Diary.

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Intifada, Yemen & Vivisection – 2011

Intifada, Yemen & Vivisection: On Saturday 24 September 2011 I began work outside the M&S flagship store on Oxford Street where Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! were holding a special picket on the 11th anniversary of the Al-Aqsa Intifada.

Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! is the newspaper of the Revolutionary Communist Group, RCG, a British anti-imperialist Marxist-Leninist communist political organisation actively campaigning since the late 1970s, opposing racism and supporting campaigns for self-determination around the world, including against Apartheid South Africa, Ireland and the Palestinian struggle for freedom.

The RCG should have been in the news this week when one of their members, Sarah Cottle, was unanimously acquitted by the jury after a second trial on spurious Terrorism Act charges for her defence of the right of the Palestinian people to defend themselves. But you won’t have heard about it on the BBC.

From Oxford Street I went to Downing Street where people from the UK Yemeni community were holding a silent protest against the killings of peaceful protesters in Sanaa by troops loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Later I joined the National Anti-Vivisection Alliance (NAVA) who were marching from Temple Place to Downing Street to deliver a letter and hold a rally calling for an end to the use of live animals in laboratory experiments.

Although NAVA was only founded in 2010, its roots lie over a century earlier with outrage and political controversy in the early years of the twentieth century which led to riots, particularly around the statue of a cruelly and illegally dissected ‘brown dog’. A replica of this statue is now in Battersea Park, and some NAVA members had met there before the march. I made a detour on my way home after the march to take a few pictures of the statue.

Intifada 11 Years Protest at M&S

Oxford St

Intifada, Yemen & Vivisection - 2011 — *Handing out leaflets and collecting petition signatures outside Mars & Spencer on Oxford St*

The Second or ‘Al-Aqsa Intifada’ started shortly after the failure of the Camp David Middle East Peace Summit between US President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat in July 2000.

A visit by Likud party candidate for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to the Temple Mount, also the site of the Al-Aqsa mosque in September 2000 triggered days of riots and clashed between Palestinians and Israeli police and in the next five days, 5 Israelis and 47 Palestinians were killed and 1885 Palestinians wounded.

Sporadic outbreaks of violence and many suicide bombings continued until Sharon and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, who had been elected promising peaceful negotiation and non-violence against Israel, met at Sharm el-Sheikh in 2005 and agreed on various measures to de-escalate the violence. By then Wikipedia states around 3,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis had been killed along with 64 foreign nationals.

The RCG and others had begun a regular Thursday night picket outside M&S shortly after the start of the Second Intifada, with occasional protests on Saturdays. They state that M&S has the strongest and most long-standing support for Zionism of any British retail company, supporting Israel with £240 million of trade each year, including products from the illegal settlements.

More details and pictures on My London Diary: Intifada 11 Years Protest at M&S.

Silent Vigil For Yemen At Downing St

Protests against the regime of President Saleh had been taking place since January, when thousands of protesters took to the streets of the capital Sanaa and other cities in southern Yemen.

In March, government forces opened fire on the protesters killing 52, and the president declared a state of emergency. Military actions followed with Saleh being injured and leaving the country for surgery.

Ahead of Saleh’s return to the country in September the army began violent attacks on peaceful democracy protesters camped out it the capital with a series of attacks usingt automatic weapons, anti-aircraft guns and rocket-propelled grenades, said to have led to more than 100 deaths.

*They want an end to the Saudi dominance in Yemen*

By late 2014 the situation had worsened, leading to the civil war which is still continuing.

Silent Vigil For Yemen At Downing St.

Enough Is Enough – Abolish Vivisection

Embankment and Battersea Park

*The march on the pavement along the embankment*

Supporters of the National Anti-Vivisection Alliance visited the statue of the Brown Dog, commemorating the start of the campaign against vivisection in 1900, and then marched through London to take a letter to Downing St calling for an end to animal experiments.

Many on the march wore purple clothing and carried purple flags, the colour of the anti-vivisectionists. They marched in silence behind a banner with the simple message ABOLISH VIVISECTION.

NAVA carry out peaceful demonstrations backed by investigations in a law abiding campaign “backed by scientists, doctors, lawyers, journalists and members of the public across Britain” to bring an end to the use of animals in research.

On My London Diary you can read more about the suffering of animals and the case of the Brown Dog which led to the erection of sculpture to the tortured animal in Battersea which became a centre for riots and fighting between medical students and anti-vivisectionists.

The statue and the ornate fountain on which the original statue stood needed a 24 hour police guard and eventually in 1910 council workers came at night guarded by 120 police to demolish it. The bronze dog was melted down.

*I found a woman still on her way to join the march reading the long text on the plinth*

A new statue of the brown dog, commissioned by anti-vivisection groups, was erected in Battersea Park in 1985.

Enough Is Enough – Abolish Vivisection

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No Cars in Bromley & Stockwell Festival – 2006

No Cars in Bromley & Stockwell Festival: On Saturday 23rd September 2006 I went to Bromley where there was a ‘No Car’ day taking place, only to find there was little or nothing to photograph. Bromley is on the south-east edge of London, and although it has a heavily built-up centre with tall office blocks is surrounded by huge car parks and outer suburbs with many streets of 1920s and 30s semi-detached houses most now with several cars parked outside. Although the area has some good public transport for many of its residents living without a car would be unthinkable. I hung around for a short time but took few pictures, only a single one I thought worth putting on-line, then walked past the War Memorial and on to the station.

More was happening in Stockwell which is the centre of London’s Portuguese community and I enjoyed the festival although it was on a small scale. There are now much more organised and larger events every July in Larkhall Park, but rather less intimate and its a while since I covered such things. My accounts written in 2006 below.

No Car in Bromley?

East Street, Bromley

The good thing about Bromley is that it has a very fast train service from Victoria. So it only took me a few minutes to get there to see its car-free street festival, hidden away in a side street a couple of minutes walk from the busy (and pedestrianised) shopping streets and the large and crowded car parks.

Bromley is very stony ground for sowing environmental seed, and the lack of interest shown by the inhabitants in what was going on was unsurprising, if disappointing both to me and to the organisers. I hope a few more strayed in later in the day.

Stockwell Festival 2006

Slade Gardens, Stockwell

I wanted to be back in Stockwell for the festival parade. There wasn’t a lot of interest on the festival field – some Portuguese sardines and beer (nasty fizz), a sort of inflatable tent, the usual face-painting and drumming etc for kids, bike workshops and a fair trade stall.

But the parade itself was a small and lively affair, with lots of people demanding I take their picture.

I enjoyed it [and took many more pictures than I put online.] But when I saw my bus coming along the road I decided it was time for home.

More pictures

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St Matthews Day, Uganda & Mass Lone Demos – 2006

St Matthews Day, Uganda & Mass Lone Demos: A long day for me on Friday 22 September 2006, beginning with a parade in heavy rain in the City of London by students from Christ’s Hospital school which moved out of Newgate to West Sussex in 1902 but return each year for this annual event. I had time to spare for a lunch and then a some rather frustrating and disappointing trips to photography galleries before photographing a protest over the persecution of gays in Uganda. Finally I went to Parliament Square for another evening of mass lone demos.

Below I’ll post a few of the pictures with the text I wrote back in 2006, tidied up as usual, and links to more pictures still on My London Diary.

St Matthew’s Day Procession – Christ’s Hospital School

London

St Matthews Day, Uganda & Mass Lone Demos - 2006

Friday I tried some underwater photography in the city, taking pictures of the annual St Matthews Day march by pupils of Christ’s Hospital School from a service in St Andrew’s Holborn. I kept with them all the way to Mansion House, where they turned down Walbrook before returning for their lunch with the Lord Mayor, but conditions were really atrocious for them and for me.

I kept the camera under my waterproof coat as much as possible, and kept wiping the rain of the lens filter with a microfibre cloth, but eventually the lens misted up inside and stopped focusing. So there are some interesting effects, but not much in the way of pictures.

A few more pictures

I lunched on my own, then set off to visit a few photo galleries. The first two were closed, despite being advertised as open, which wasn’t a good start. But the third was open, as was the National Portrait Gallery, though the work there was a disappointment.

Outrage Protests at Uganda House

Trafalgar Square

In Trafalgar Square Outrage and others were demonstrating outside Uganda House against the persecution of gays in Uganda. At first I thought the protestors were likely to be outnumbered by the two police, but eventually around 50 turned up, some having travelled a couple of hundred miles to be there.

I missed one picture of a Ugandan inside the building who had come up to the glass doors and was behind their rather fancy bird-shaped handles; as I raised my camera he scurried quickly away. Others were watching through the curtained windows of the upper stories.

More pictures

Mass Lone Demo

Parliament Square

There were two sets of mass lone demos – following the idea of Mark Thomas – arranged for 6.00pm and 6.30pm in Parliament Square, with some demonstrators having also applied for permission to protest in Whitehall outside Downing Street later in the evening.

*The Raving Loony Party also I think opposes SOCPA, although Albanian Stalinist leader Enva Hoxha didn’t mention it.*

As well as the usual staunch supporters of Brian Haw (and of course the man himself) there were a wide variety of causes, across a whole spectrum from insanely nutty to deadly serious.

At least two commented on the actual nature of placards and signs, and those present demonstrated a wide range of care and skill.

The shortest demo on record was probably achieved by the two protesters who had brought a finely painted bendy bus, but, doubtless due to being held up in traffic, it arrived late and they finished their demonstration almost before it had started.

*Mark Thomas, Babs Tucker and Brian Haw*

The police stood around the edge of the square, not bothering to check up on what was going on. After all, one or two unauthorised demonstrations weren’t going to make a lot of difference among all those who had permission.

Even cheeky comments from some of the more regularly harassed protesters failed to arouse their interest.

More pictures

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PFI Hospital Threat & World Peace – 2013

PFI Hospital Threat & World Peace: On Saturday 21st September 2013 I went to Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone for a protest march and rally against plans for massive cuts and closures there because of the huge and continuing repayments to bankers who financed the PFI (Private Finance Initiative – protesters call it Private Fraud Initiative – for the replacement of another London Hospital. Later I went to Trafalgar Square where young professionals were celebrating World Peace Day with the help of the Olympic volunteers in the Pandemonium Drummers.

Save Whipps Cross Hospital

Whipps Cross to Walthamstow

PFI Hospital Threat & World Peace - 2013 — *Nurses with placards at the rally in Town Square, Walthamstow*

Whipps Cross Hospital is a large, well-managed and highly successful hospital serving a large area of north-east London, financially viable and highly regarded in the local community.

It was saved from closure in 2007-8 by a well supported local campaign but in 2013 was under threat again, not for anything to do with this hospital, but because of huge debt repayments under the PFI agreement which enabled the building of a new Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, also a part of the Barts Health Trust.

PFI was a scheme to take new government investments off of the government’s books by getting private finance for large developments – and saddling the taxpayer with huge repayments to the bankers over the next 50 or more years.

New Labour leapt into these schemes for short-term political advantage (in this case a shiny new replacement hospital for the ancient Royal London in Whitechapel) in exchange for long-term economic disaster, apparently in the hope that ‘something would come up’ or that we would enjoy a period of huge expansion and inflation. What did come up was the financial crisis and depression, and the result if no action is taken will be to require the sacrifice of the NHS as we know it.

The protesters said we had already paid for that new hospital five times over and payments would continue for another 35 years or so. The financiers used their expertise to run rings around the civil servants in the negotiations over the PFI contracts, locking the hospital into inefficient but highly profitable long-term contracts for maintenance and other services and were receiving annual repayments of £115m a year (£2.21m per week.)

Whipps Cross and the other hospitals in the Barts group – Newham, Mile End, the London Chest Hospitals and the Royal London itself – have already seen drastic cuts in staffing and services, leading to closures of wards and failure to meet standards. At Whipps Cross these have caused systemic failings in elderly care and maternity, failing to meet 10 of the 16 national standards for quality and safety, for which the hospital has received three formal warnings.

Barts Trust was losing £2m a year and needed to make further cuts, totaling £77.5m per year, which would fall heavily on Whipps Cross.

Around 500 people turned up outside the hospital to march through Leyton to a rally in Walthamstow. They demanded an end to the mismanagement and cuts by Barts Hospital Trust and for the government to take action to cancel or at least severely cut the PFI debt.

*Charlotte Monro disciplined by hospital management for her trade union activities*

Hospital managers had two months earlier banned Unison’s Waltham Forest health branch chair Charlotte Monro from representing her members and she and nurses rep Rod Villaggio both got huge cheers when they spoke at the Walthamstow rally. The action was supported by other trade unionists including Fire Brigade Union General Secretary Matt Wrack who made a powerful speech.

More on My London Diary at Save Whipps Cross Hospital.

World Peace Day

Trafalgar Square

*Dancers and drummers on the North Terrace*

Young professionals from Junior Chamber of Commerce for London or JCI (Junior Chamber International) celebrated the UN’s World Peace Day, promoted by Peace One Day in Trafalgar Square by dancing to a band in blue hats with lightbulbs, some of the Pandemonium Drummers, volunteers who took part in the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony.

This was World Peace Day, fixed as 21st October in 1999 thanks to the efforts of the organisation Peace One Day which was also behind this event.

Both Peace One Day and Chambers of Commerce support many good charitable projects, but I remain unconvinced that they – or events like this do anything to promote world peace. Certainly we don’t see them taking part in protests against arms manufacturers or the DSEi arms fair or at the annual Hiroshima Day events. And I don’t imagine them lobbying to reduce our military spending or against our participation in wars around the world.

World Peace Day

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Art Deco, Houses, Bingo and King of Lee – 1990

Art Deco, Houses, Bingo and King of Lee: The final part of a short walk around Lewisham which took me to Ladywell before returning to catch a train in Lewisham. The previous post on this walk was Ravensbourne, Quaggy & More -Lewisham – 1990.

Tickitape House, Works, Art Deco, 59, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-43 — Tickitape House, Works, Art Deco, 59, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990 *90-4c-*43

This classic Art Deco factory, at one time ‘Tickitape House’, home to Adhesive Specialities has sadly been demolished.

In Lewisham Council’s St Mary’s conservation area supplementary planning document it states:

“This building was built in the 1930s as Neuk Laundry in a simple ‘Moderne’ style by a local builder, Mr Howkins. It was altered in 1988-9 by another local firm, Rainey and Rainey, which added metal windows and a clock and heightened the parapets, giving the building a more Art Deco style.”

Tickitape House, Works, Art Deco, 59, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-45 — Tickitape House, Works, Art Deco, 59, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990 *90-4c-*45

Unfortunately local listing and being a popular local landmark that, according to the council “makes a positive contribution to the character and appearance of the conservation” area and their comment that “Any development on this site should therefore retain the main body of the Art Deco building” fell on deaf ears of the developers, and despite considerable local opposition it was completely demolished and replaced by undistinguished student housing around 2009.

*Tickitape House, Works, Art Deco, 59, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-46*

Perhaps the building did not fall within the criteria needed for national listing, though many far less interesting buildings have been listed. But the architectural community and particularly as this was represented by such vital figures as Nikolaus Pevsner in the past had a very snooty attitude to Art Deco and Moderne buildings, regarding them as of little merit compared to the true modernism of the age. It doesn’t get even a fleeting mention in London 2:South.

*Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-44*

My interest was caught by the rather ramshackle buildings in the centre of the picture and I wondered what their original purpose could have been, with what appear to be doors at first-floor level and ventilators on top. My first thought was pigeon lofts and others have suggested stables. I think they have since been rebuilt in a similar form in Mercy Terrace.

*Houses, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-33*

Breeze blocks fill the windows and doors of the foreground house in this terrace and I think were there to prevent squatting of the property which has since been renovated.

*Mecca Leisure, Lewisham High St, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-34*

The Bingo Hall was built as a Temperance Billiards Hall in 1910, and I wrote more about this in my previous post. Left derelict for some years after the last Bingo session it has been slowly and carefully restored by the Tabernacle Church.

*King Of Lee, Motors, Lewisham High St, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-35*

No trace remains of King of Lee Motors at 256 Lewisham High St, a scrap yard offering a wide range of reconditioned and reclaimed motor spares from stock, immediately south of the railway bridge on Lewisham High Street. They apparently paid “TOP CASH PRICES” for “FAILED MO.O.T., DAMAGED, NON RUNNERS, INSURANCE WRITE-OFFS” and their buyers will call to collect them – evenings and weekends.

Curness Street now runs here,. leading to new flats built between 2003 and 2006

*King Of Lee, Motors, Lewisham High St, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-36*

Finally I took three portrait format near identical images of the gate, fascinated by the remains of a telegraph pole with its various wires and strands of deadplants. Although the yard claimed to be open ‘7 DAYS’ I had managed to find one where it was firmly closed with a car wedged against its frontage.

It was time to make for the station and go home.

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Women Protest Against Rape – 2012

Downing St, Wednesday 19th Sep 2012

Women Protest Against Rape: I was going to be out of London for the ‘Slutwalk’ which was to take place on Saturday 22nd September – though I had photographed the first Slutwalk in 2011, and was pleased to cover this earlier event organised by by Women Against Rape and supported by other groups including the English Collective of Prostitutes which preceded it and highlighted the issues behind the larger protest.

The protesters demanded justice for rape victims, whose claims are often dismissed or downgraded by the police who often blame the victim not the rapist. Many rapes are not reported to the police and of those that are, only less than 1 in 7 result in a conviction of the rapist.

Women who do report rape have often been accused by police of lying and some have been prosecuted for making false accuesations and sentenced to jail. The great majority of rapes go unreported – estimates vary between 70-95%.

There are seldom any witnesses to the actual crime other than the rapist and victim, and their impressions of the event and certainly the stories they tell may be very different. Most of the cases that result in successful convictions are those when the defendant pleads guilty.

Most rape – outside of war zones – is by men who are known to their victim and has nothing to do with what they are wearing, but reflects the unequal relationship between men and women which is at the base of our society.

The women taking part in the protest stripped to their underwear, holding up placards with the word SLUT and posters against the current failure by the law, police and courts to treat rape seriously. Most had slogans painted on their bodies, and they sang and chanted and spoke, some from their own experience of police failures to respond appropriately.

Women of colour feel they are discriminated against by police, and asylum seekers and refugees are under threat of deportation if they make a complaint. Sex workers are sometimes told that rape is a consequence of their job that they should expect, and police often go out of their way to enforce laws which put them at risk, rather than doing anything to protect them. Cases are often dropped because police or CPS feel the witness ‘lacks credibility’.

More at Women Protest Against Rape.

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The Pope & Apprentice Boys of Derry – 2010

The Pope & Apprentice Boys of Derry: Pope Benedict XVI was in the UK on a State Visit from 16-19th Septemnber 2010, the first ever official papal state visit to the UK. There was a large protest in London on Saturday 18th September 2010 against his visit because of his hiding of evidence of child abuse and more widely against religious bigotry. By coincidence the day was also the day of the annual Carson Day parade by the City of London branch of the Apprentice Boys of Derry, also no friends of the Pope.

Apprentice Boys London Parade

Whitehall

The Pope & Apprentice Boys of Derry - 2010 — *City of Westminster Apprentice Boys of Derry Campsie Club*

Because of the large protest against the Pope, police made the Apprentice Boys make an earlier than usual start so that they could lay their wreaths at the Cenotaph before the large march arrived.

I was unaware of this and arrived at the published departure time oon the Embankment I found no one there, and had to rush to Whitehall, arriving just in time to photograph them laying wreaths at the Cenotaph, and after to photograph them marching away.

As I wrote in 2010:

“The Apprentice Boys, along with the other organisations taking part in the march are Ulster Protestants, dedicated to upholding the Protestant faith. Several standards were for the London Somme Association, celebrating the part played by Ulster regiments in the First World War, listing some ofthe battles in which they suffered heavy losses – Ypres, Arras, Cambrai, Thiepcal, Fricourt and more. But one of the flags was for the Protestant Action Force, a name used for the Ulster Volunteer Force, formed in 1966 and actively involved in the ‘troubles’ until it declared a ceasefire in 1994 – it only officially ending its armed campaign in 2007.

The Orange institutions in London, though presumably providing support of various kinds for allied groups in Ulster, have always been more about the social and cultural aspects of Unionism, and their marchers through London have never attracted the kind of controversy that exists in Northern Ireland.”

Apprentice Boys London Parade

London Protests Against Papal State Visit

Piccadilly and Whitehall

Widespread publicity around the Pope’s State Visit clearly swelled the numbers who came to march against his locking away evidence of child abuse by priests and for an end to religious bigotry, and it united many groups who are opposed to the religious fundamentalism of the Catholic church and to its interference in politics.

Both organisers and police were surprised by the number of marchers and the rally had to be moved further down Whitehall to where there was a larger space and the crowd filled the entire street for some distance on each side.

*Peter Tatchell at the front of the march*

Speakers including some militant atheists, made clear that this was not a march against religion and certainly not against Christmas, but against a particular man and his actions locking away evidence of child abuse and trying to smooth over cases of abuse rather than investigate and bring those concerned to justice.

*This woman gave me a surprise when I photographed her*

“It was also against a church organisation that meddles in politics at the highest level, pretending that the Vatican is a state (and even persuading the UN to treat it as such.) Of course it isn’t really a country but an NGO and should be treated as such.”

Because of its influence in the UN and on governments around the world, millions have died unnecessarily of AIDs through its opposition to the use of condoms.

Unlike many other churches, the Catholic Church remains an entirely male hierarchy, still insisting on male celibate priests – with predictable consequences. Among those marching were Catholic women calling for the church to ordain women – as have many other churches for many years – and also gay Catholic clergy. The speakers included one priest whose work caring for Aids victims in New York and London had been condemned by the Catholic Church.

Others were survivors of child abuse by Catholic priests, covered up both by the church and even by their own mothers because of their allegiance to the church.

Maryam Namazie reminded the crowd “it isn‘t just the Catholic church that imposes its religious laws on people, but other religions such as Islam.” In Iran under Shariah law stoning is still in use, particularly to keep women in a state of submission.

The rally was cut short when police insisted that the PA system had to be turned off as the area was still covered by the ban on amplification in the area around parliament covered by SOCPA (the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act, 2005.)

You can read a longer account of the rally – and far too many more pictures including several of each of the many speakers – on My London Diary:
London Protests Against Pope.

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Short Walks in London & Staines -2005

Short Walks in London & Staines: As I mentioned a few days ago in my post on The New Trafalgar Dispatch, in September 2005 I was suffering from a knee injury. Over the next few days, from September 11th-17th I did manage to get out for some short walks close to home, and managed a short walk in London around Highbury Fields on my way to visit a friend.

I had been advised by my doctor that gentle exercise was likely to help, but had to do rather a lot of stopping and resting when the pain became too intense. And after a couple of days I had to give up taking the strong painkillers he had prescribed because of the side effects on my stomach and could only rely on paracetamol.

By Saturday17th it was beginning to feel a little less painful – and after Highbury I even made a short visit to St Paul’s Cathedral and Paternoster Square. The next day it felt good enough for me to risk going up to London again to photograph the Thames Festival.

I didn’t take a great many pictures – and here I’ll post all of those I thought worth putting on My London Diary in 2005.

Staines

Daybreak, a Hull-registered Humber Keel was moored by Church Island Staines, next to the Lammas where we listened to the Staines Lammas Brass Band.

Highbury and Holloway

St Paul’s & Paternoster Sq

It took a few months – as my doctor had said it would – for my knee to get entirely back to normal, and twenty-two years later it still seems in reasonable shape. I hope it will keep going for a few more years.

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