The European Social Forum took place in London from Friday 15th October to Sunday 17th October 2004 and I covered events on the street on all three days, along with some other events. In this post I’ll include the entire text I wrote in 2004 (with the usual corrections) and just a few of the hundreds of pictures I took with links to the others still on My London Diary.
Friday
The event of the month was undoubtedly the European Social Forum, held in London from 15-17 October. This brought together trade unionists, socialists, peace campaigners and greens from all over Europe to demonstrate that “Another Europe Is Possible“, but apparently left many complaining about how the event had been organised and manipulated. I choose not to attend the more serious sessions but to look at how this conference spilled over more creatively into the streets of London.
It was a generally good-natured event, with an international samba band. From the top of a tourist bus an American voice asked the bill what was on. As he floundered to reply, the woman I was talking to suggested “Hey it’s a fluffy takeover!”
On the Friday, Critical Mass were out on their bikes, together with Rising Tide and other environmental protesters. On a ‘London Underwater 2050 Tour of the G8 Climate Criminals‘. Starting under Waterloo Bridge, they went on tour, visiting the London offices of several climate change villains, including petrol giants Exxon Mobil and BP and the Canadian government, ending up outside the National Portrait Gallery, site of the annual BP-sponsored portrait award.
Most of the police were good-natured and cooperative throughout, but there were some ineffectual attempts to block the path of the demonstrators. By standing in the road the police blocked traffic, while the demonstrators simply walked around them.
Worrying was the deliberate police use of photography as intimidation, with the police photographer going out of his way to confront demonstrators, aided by two other officers.
I worry because I think it is an attempt to attack civil liberties, but also because such behaviour makes all photographers suspect. I can only work effectively if I gain the trust and cooperation of those whose pictures I take. Perhaps it helps that photography is one of the activities that also arouses suspicion and intimidation by the police.
As I walked away at the end of the demonstration, this team ran 50 yards down the road and caught up with me, one calling “Excuse me, sir!” and tapping on my shoulder. I turned to face him, and found myself looking into the lens of the police photographer, who took my picture as his colleague started to question me about who I was taking pictures for. It seemed clear and deliberate harassment, intended to intimidate a photographer acting entirely lawfully, photographing on the public highway.
Saturday
The samba band and others visited the temple of Mammon. Oxford Street on a Saturday must rank as about the most depressing place on earth, although IKEA – where my wife and son spent the day buying furniture for his new flat – must be a close contender.
I couldn’t stand a whole afternoon in shopping hell, so left to watch the Rosary Crusade Of Reparation procession leaving from Westminster Cathedral on its way to Brompton Oratory. “The future”, I was assured, “is Latin“, and the event started with Bishop Fernando Arêas Rifan from Brazil intoning “Credo in Unum Deum” from the loadspeaker on a police van. The creed was continued by the congregation, led by several Knights Of Malta and the traditional Catholic Family Alliance.
Later I re-joined the French CGT and British GMB unions who were demonstrating outside Puma in Carnaby Street, over their use of sweated labour. It is an issue that has been highlighted in this country by ‘No Sweat’ who were also there, along with what was by now my favourite samba band, an international group with strong contributions from Sheffield and France.
By the time the band reached the top of Carnaby street, the police were obviously getting restless. I heard one giving the opinion to a member of the public “they’ve been pissing about for six hours and it’s time they went home“. Muscled officers in baggy black fighting gear were flexing muscles and grinning stupidly, obviously relishing the likely opportunity for a little action, as officers and demonstrators argued the toss.
Eventually commonsense and law prevailed and the demonstrators were allowed to keep moving along. On Oxford St we headed towards the goal of the CGT, the Virgin Megastore. There were actually a couple of tempting CDs on special offer, but I managed to leave empty-handed just before security, on police advice, lowered the shutters as the demo arrived, making a very brief stop for a CGT photo-opportunity.
After yesterday’s harassment, I slipped across Oxford Street at this point, past the police vans that were holding up the traffic and behind a bus before disappearing rapidly down the underground. It saves hassle, and I wanted to get to a great Nepalese meal near Euston Station.
Sunday
Network Rail chose October weekends to isolate Staines from the rest of the world with extensive engineering works and a replacement bus service. The first I travelled on [on Saturday] got lost several times, taking the wrong route out of Feltham (including a prohibited two point left turn from the station yard) and proved unable to find the station in Hounslow. Getting various directions from other bus drivers and passengers, a mile further on he made a three point turn in the main London road, only to come back and drive past the turning for the station again. Directed by a passenger he then tried some side roads hardly wide enough for the bus to edge its way through, only to arrive at a one-way section leading away from our goal. We finally squeezed through another narrow side road to Hounslow Station.
Next time [on Sunday] the driver only got lost twice, missed out Feltham Station completely, and had to make one U-turn on a major road, but otherwise it was uneventful. I don’t like to knock the railways, but a little organisation would help.
Sunday was the climax event for the European Social Forum, with a huge anti-war march to a rally in Trafalgar Square, and it was big. Stop The War as usual were trying to control the uncontrollable and mainly succeeding in frustrating the media. Demonstrators simply and entirely predictably surged past the ‘front of the march’ they tried to establish.
I don’t know how many there were on the march, but the police estimate of 15-20,000 seems as usual on the low side, although the organisers 75,000 may be equally too high. The most reliable guess is an average of the two.
People were still flooding up Whitehall towards Trafalgar Square as I left, some two hours after the rally there was due to start.
Among the speakers I photographed were Tony Benn, George Galloway and Aleida Guevara, the daughter of Che.
Although it was a generally well-behaved and good-natured event, there were a few minor incidents – the police reported nine arrests. I saw two incidents that were sparked by aggressive police behaviour in trying to photograph some of those present, as well as some violent attempts to break through the stewards and access the fenced off platform area in the square, by demonstrators who wanted to raise the problem of several arrests having been made but were not allowed by the Stop The War stewards.
Falluja is going to be a new Stalingrad over the next few weeks”
Domination of the anti-war movement by Stop The War and the SWP must take the blame for its lack of effectiveness. When a few lorry drivers can force a government volte-face, it takes really effective dinosaur socialism to prevent the views of a majority of the British people having any effect at all.
More pictures of the rally at Trafalgar Square
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