A photographer friend had suggested I cover the demonstration outside the Hendon Hall Hotel on Sunday morning before going on to the event in Harrow, which we – and the police – had expected to be much bigger and possibly rather more exciting. “Both in North London” he’d said, and they are, but still around 6 miles apart by the shortest route – London is a fairly spread out place. If I was making a lot of money from photography the obvious answer would have been to take a taxi, but things being as they are I’d worked out how to travel between the two with a five minute walk, half an hour on a bus and a short tube journey. Using my folding bike would have been a better solution, but I don’t like leaving it locked in the open anywhere as Bromptons are such tempting targets for bike thieves.
It wasn’t a bad journey in the end, though the bus was running around five minutes late, and we made it in plenty of time because there wasn’t a lot happening when we arrived at Harrow. The counter-demonstration had been called for two hours before the right-wing demo was due to begin and there was little to do except stand around and talk – mainly to the many other photographers who were also covering the event.
One thing that was a little disconcerting was the police, who were obviously putting on a charm offensive towards the press. One greeted me with a smile and a handshake as I walked out of the station and asked me what I thought was going to happen. There really were police everywhere – according to one local paper, 800 of them, because last time the English Defence League had visited Harrow in the Summer there was a certain amount of trouble and fighting by them with both police and young Muslims who forced them to retreat.
This time the police had erected a pretty effective dividing line between where the two sides were meeting, with a two rows of barriers linked and large bags of sand to hold them in place, though it did occur to me that these would allow determined and reasonably athletic protesters to easily leap over.
We chose to start opposite the mosque, as the car park where the EDL and the SIOE (Stop Islamisation of Europe) were to have their rally at 2pm was empty. There wasn’t actually a lot to photograph with the counter-demonstrators, organised by Brent and Harrow Unite Against Fascism, but at least there were a couple of hundred people milling around and after a while a few speeches.
A little before 2pm photographers wandered over to look at the car park it was still virtually empty, with a group of six forlorn-looking youths and men. Police told us we could walk round along the main road to get to the other side of the barrier but there seemed to be little point, although there were several TV crews there. Much more was happening on the side where we were, particularly as the several hundred UAF supporters moved closer and started to chant.
Eventually they charged right up to the double barrier, which was defended by a line of police as well as half a dozen rather menacing looking dogs straining on their leashes. But now we were obviously on the wrong side to take pictures. Much to my surprise, the police allowed those of us who could show a valid press card to climb over the barrier at a point away from the demonstrators. It was a degree of cooperation that I’ve seldom experienced. I’m just sorry I was in so much of a rush to get to the other side that I didn’t photograph us climbing over.
We were now able both to photograph the noisy demonstration across the barriers and also to wander a few yards and photograph the EDL/SIOE handful – now almost up to double figures. Some of them were clearly trying to hide from photographers, but others were posing and showing an England flag and a poorly drawn anti-burkha sign.
You can read about what happened after this on My London Diary (or Demotix) where the two stories are more or less the same. But on Demotix there is an edited selection of just under 20 pictures, while on My London Diary there are considerably more – and they are not watermarked.
I’m often asked why I put so many images on that site (or rather told that I put too many on it). In part it’s because I want to use pictures to tell a story, rather than, as in newspapers and magazines to spice up the text with an illustration or two. And although I do edit quite considerably – and typically only about 1 in 8 or 1 in 10 of the pictures I take makes it to the site – it has always been my intention to make My London Diary a site for the people without whom I could not have taken the pictures. When people I photograph ask me “Can I have a copy?” I give them my card with the web site address on it, and tell them I’ll put it on there – and the pictures are also there for those who haven’t asked me. It’s a site that I see as very much being for the people I photograph as well as my own diary of events.
Throughout the afternoon until I left just before 3.30pm, people seemed to keep arriving to defend the mosque. My rough estimate, made shortly before I left, was that there were more than 500 present, and I think 23 in the right-wing demonstration. One account in a local paper gives rather lower numbers for both, perhaps suggesting they counted rather earlier than I did.
Sometimes of course it’s been hard to get away from demonstrations where there is a large police presence, but today as I walked past a number of lines and groups of police it was all smiles. One asked me if I had got any good pictures – a judgement I really leave to others. Well, I think a few aren’t bad, but perhaps the image above is my favourite.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/City-Of-London-Police-Catch-Suspected-Terror-Group-Filming-Potential-Targets/Article/200912315500789?lpos=UK_News_Second_UK_News_Article_Teaser_Region_1&lid=ARTICLE_15500789_City_Of_London_Police_Catch_Suspected_Terror_Group_Filming_Potential_Targets
Perhaps they saw this and were embarrassed that the only example of photography being used for terrorism they could find was this that the CPS threw out for lack of evidence.
http://bit.ly/6xcDcD if the long URL doesn’t work for some people.
I like to think it’s more because they’ve been reading all the pieces I’ve written on this blog, but seriously I think it is more the whole lot of things that have been said, particularly following the G20 events around Bank and the Climate Camp where I think even the Home Office and other authorities came to the conclusion that they had both provoked and instigated most of the violent disorder that occurred. So there have been things like Lord Carlile’s comments recenly, the Home Office circular in September, recent advice from ACPO etc.
Although I don’t think he was present in person, I think Commander Broadhurst was in charge at Harrow and very keen to avoid anything that could be blamed on the police.
Of course we are still getting incidents such as those last month in the City of London – perhaps the message is slow to get to some people.
I often do quite a bit of research into places where I am going to photograph and I find both the high res satellite images on several sites and Google Street View invaluable. Rather more useful than using a mobile phone I think. The bit of film released is simply hopeless.