September 2015

Just over a month behind, last night I put the finishing touches to my posts on My London Diary for September 2015.


Refugees are Welcome Here march reaches Parliament

It was a busy month yet again for me, with over thirty stories, partly because of the DSEi East London Arms Fair – or rather the protests and events around it taking place, something which happens every two years.

It was also a very interesting month, with the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Party leader and his appointment of John McDonnell as Shadow Chancellor. I’ve photographed and talked with and listened to both of them speaking many times over the years, but this has meant that both of them have been too busy to attend the events I’ve photographed this month.

Knowing both of them the media response to the election has been ridiculous in the extreme – as have been the comments of both government and some Labour party politicians. The establishment is clearly running scared and throwing all kinds of ridiculous assertions at them. They clearly give the Labour Party its only hope of winning the 2020 election after its recent failures and would also put the country under rather better management than it currently enjoys, though whether they would be able to break the stranglehold of the city and the ultra-rich is debatable. I think in the end they are both far too reasonable and conciliatory to really make the radical changes the country needs, but I still have some hope for the first time in some years.

People often tell me that protest is useless and never achieves anything, but they are simply wrong. Two series of protests I’ve been photographing appear to have reached at least a reasonably successful conclusion this month, with an agreement being reached after 100 days of strikes at the National Gallery, and also apparently between the UVW and Sotheby’s, though I think details have yet to be finalised. The protests over refugees have so far only led to a minor shift in the Government’s position, but I think we may see more, and finally Shaker Aamer was released a couple of days ago and is back in a London clinic.



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My London Diary : Buildings of London : River Lea/Lee Valley : London’s Industrial Heritage

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