police | >Re-PHOTO

Student Fees & Ash Wednesday – 2009

Student Fees & Ash Wednesday: After photographing the National Student March on Wednesday 25th February 2009 I went to the Ministry of Defence where Pax Christi and Christian CND have held an Ash Wednesday Liturgy of Repentance and Resistance every year since 1982.

National Student Demonstration

Malet St – Kings College

Student Fees & Ash Wednesday - 2009 — *Students listen to speakers at the rally outside SOAS*

The National Student March was rather smaller than some this year as it was not supported by all student organisations but still around 750 took part, including many who had come from around the country.

In 2009 there were a number of student occupations of colleges and universities around the country over the Israeli army attacks on Gaza; some were still continuing and this may also have meant fewer people came to the march.

In 2009 I pointed out how financially things had changed since my student days, when UK students did not pay course fees and those like me from low income families got grants which gave us enough to live on.

Back then students were expected to study and generally not allowed to have jobs during term times – now many need to do so to live.

The grants were means-tested and those like me who got a full grant were better off than some from wealthier families who often failed to give their sons and daughters the full expected parental contribution.

The marchers demanded an end to course fees and a living grant for every student, calling for a higher education systems based simply on need and not on the market.

There were speeches before the march giving support from school students, the youth parliament, university teachers and others as well as from students.

At the junction of Southampton Row and Theobalds Road some of the marchers sat down blocking the road, but most got up and marched on after a few minutes when a steward told them that police intended to surround them, move them off the road and possibly arrest them.

A smaller group, mainly the autonomous block, remained, but got up quickly and moved on when a large and vigorous looking squad of police approached.

Student fees were capped at £1,000 per year when first introduced by New Labour in 1998 but had been increase to £3,000 in 2004 and were £3,225 a year, rising to account for inflation. But after the Browne review there was a huge rise to £9,000 in 2012, with almost all courses at all universities charging the maximum allowed new rate.

More pictures on My London Diary at National Student Demonstration.

Ash Wednesday Liturgy of Repentance

Ministry of Defence, Horseguards Ave

*Black and purple ribbons were tied to a cross and prayers offered for victims of war and violence.*

I left the student march before it ended to rush to the Ash Wednesday Liturgy of Repentance and Resistance at the Ministry of Defence in protest against the continued reliance on nuclear weapons. Pax Christi and Christian CND have held this service every year since 1982.

I met the in Embankment Gardens where around 70 Christians, also including members of Catholic Peace Action, were in a circle. Sticks of charcoal were blessed and the heads of those taking part marked with a cross of ashes.

They then processed behind a white cross for a short service at the Old War Office where black and purple ribbons were tied to a white cross while prayers were said for those killed in wars.

Police surrounded the building to stop the protesters marking the walls with charcoal crosses, though I think some did so later after the police had moved away. There was also a large police presence when the worshippers moved to the Ministry of Defence.

Here they held a longer service, in which sackcloth was laid on the pavement and the letters R E P E N T marked out on it with ashes. Others taking part came and added more ashes.

Police kept a narrow passage to allow people to leave and enter the building. The protesters offered them leaflets but nobody took one.

More pictures on My London Diary: Ash Wednesday Liturgy of Repentance

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Poor Doors to Rich Gardens – 2015

Aldgate to Tower Bridge

On Thursday 19th February 2015 after a ‘poor doors’ protest at One Commercial Street against the separate entrances for rich and poor residents lit up by flaming torches, Class War marched with these across Tower Bridge to protest at new luxury flats at One Tower Bridge in Southwark on the south bank of the River Thames where social housing residents are to be denied access to the private garden.

It was raining slightly and the ‘poor doors’ protest had started with only the core protesters outside the entrance to the private flats next to Aldgate East Station on Whitechapel High Street (residents to the social housing enter by a side alley.)

A van of police had driven up as Ian Bone was speaking and came to guard the door, though the protesters were not on this occasion attempting to enter the building. An officer tried to talk to Bone but he wasn’t interested. The police had asked Class War to pay for their march to be policed, but had been very firmly told that the fewer police there were the better.

After around half an hour Class War decided it was time to light up ready for the march and torches were handed out and were soon flaming. They cheered up the rather damp night and provided a little more light for photography, but did make things look rather warm coloured.

There was a little light relief for the protesters when a woman who I think worked for an estate agents came to complain about the protest to the police telling them they should stop it. She got a little shouty when police told her that people had a right to protest, but police soon persuaded her to move away.

There had been some discussion about whether the march should take place, but numbers had grown and people were keen to march despite the weather and the march set off down Leman St led by the Class War banners and flaming torches.

There were some disputes about the best route to take, and some small diversions down seriously dark side streets where it was hard to photograph without the help of the torches. On the busy roads the march spread out across the whole carriageway to stop traffic behind it – with much hooting from frustrated drivers, though the delay was only short.

On Tower Bridge the marchers took over both carriageways bringing both the ‘Lucy Parsons’ and ‘Party Leaders’ banners beside each other.

Orange flares were set off and there was a short pause as the flaming torches were refilled with paraffin before the marchers moved onto the pavement and set off again, crossing the road and down an alley into the new luxury flat development where police were waiting for them.

The development here consisted of eight blocks of luxury apartments and one of affordable homes and includes a private garden area. In the original planning application this was to have been used by all tenants, but a few days before this protest Southwark Council had agreed to the developers changing this to deny access to the social housing residents, which led to this march by Class War against another aspect of social apartheid.

More pictures on My London Dairy at Poor Doors to Rich Gardens.

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March For Our Flag & Chinese New Year – 2007

March For Our Flag & Chinese New Year: Sunday 18th February 2007 was very much a day of two halves for me, photographing ‘football supporters‘ on an extreme right march and then going to Chinatown for a brief visit to the New Year celebrations. Here’s what I wrote back in 2007 about the day (with the usual minor corrections) and some of the pictures – with links to a few more on My London Diary.

March For Our Flag – United British Alliance

March For Our Flag & Chinese New Year - 2007 — *There were around 200 football supporters in the right-wing march.*

There were perhaps just over 200 marchers in the ‘March For Our Flag’ which made its way from Westminster to Marble Arch on Sunday. Organised by football supporters, it was billed as “a peaceful march consisting of Whites, Blacks, Asians” and the invitation was clearly made for people to attend “regardless of colour or creed or firm or team.” However it was also an event that members of the National Front Youth ‘Bulldogs’ were urged to support in one of their forums with the hope of attracting new members.

Englishness has been officially relegated to a fringe activity, and to a great extent politically appropriated by the ultra-right. So it isn’t surprising that we get populist outbreaks such as this, under the banner of the ‘United British Alliance’. This seems to be largely an anti-Islamic movement of football supporters, many of whom seem to take a pride in their membership of noted hooligan groups (the ‘firms‘.) On its web page, UBA describes itself as “a multi-ethnic, multi-faith organisation with a passionate interest in reclaiming our once proud nation from the grip of international terror and political correctness gone-mad, with a view to re-installing some pride in our communities and way of life.”

So I was hardly surprised to find the march almost solidly white and male; I noted only one Black and one Asian face – and only three women. What was overwhelming was the drab surliness of it all, with rather few English flags in evidence – probably fewer on hats and shirts than in the average crowd, now that many England soccer and rugby fans regularly appear covered with St George symbols.

At its front was a large St George’s flag with the message ‘Tunbridge Wells Yids On Tour.’ Although generally a term of racist abuse, here it is a name Spurs fans use with pride, having christened themselves ‘Yids’ in response to the anti-Semitic chants from fans of other clubs.

Events such as this, organised by a fringe extreme right group, do represent a widespread feeling among many people that we need to do more to promote English culture and a pride in being English. Nothing prevents us celebrating St George’s Day, [but] such celebrations have never attracted the official support and funding that attend the other national saints days in the UK.

In the arts, there has been a reluctance or even a refusal to finance traditional English folk arts, while those from many other ethnic groups have often received generous support. In part this comes from the elitist snobbishness of an establishment that massively funds opera while being unable to stomach grants to Morris dancing, brass bands, folk singers and English choirs and other elements of a genuinely popular and largely working class English culture.

Even, if not especially, on the left, we have generally left official culture and the patronage it gives to be run by the champagne socialists in Islington and Hampstead rather than supporting the kind of activities that came with our roots in the co-operative movement, the Methodist and other [non-conformist] churches and the Working Mens Clubs and unions.

The police took a very obvious interest in the event, and in the few of us trying to photograph it. I was twice questioned by them, and my press card details were noted down both times, while I was photographed [by police.] There were probably more police than marchers covering the event, both at Liverpool Street, where many of the marchers had met, and also on the march itself.

The police were polite and made sure I was aware that some of the marchers resented being photographed and suggested it would not be sensible for me to attend the rally at the end of the march. I hadn’t intended to do so, although this almost made me change my mind.

[More specifically I was told that they “would not be able to guarantee my safety” if I went on to the rally.]

Just a few more pictures on My London Diary

Chinese New Year Celebrations

Chinatown, Westminster

I’m very much in favour of London celebrating the Chinese New Year (as well as St George’s Day) but it now seems hardly worth me photographing it. Partly because I’ve done it so often that there seems to be little more to say, and in part because it is just too crowded with far too many people trying to take pictures.

Controlling crowds such as this is a tricky affair, but there never seems to be much reason in it, with police lines often blocking off relatively quiet areas and thus creating jams elsewhere. I wandered round a little and took a few pictures before going home. There are better days to come to Chinatown.

*I’ve taken many pictures of the lions in previous years, so didn’t really bother this year*

A few more pictures begin here on My London Diary.

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Alevi, Union Flags, Fuel Poverty & Reclaim Love – 2013

Alevi, Union Flags, Fuel Poverty & Reclaim Love: Saturday 16th Feb was a busy day for me, beginning with a protest by Alevi against religious discrimination in Turkey, on to an extreme right protest in support of Belfast ‘loyalists’. Then a rally over fuel poverty which ended with a road block by disabled protesters. My day in London ended in Piccadilly Circus at the Reclaim Love Valentine Party, though I arrived there rather late.

You can read longer accounts and see more pictures of all these events on My London Diary.

Alevi Protest Discrimination in Turkey & UK

Trafalgar Square

Alevi, Union Flags, Fuel Poverty & Reclaim Love - 2013 — *A woman in traditional costume holds a banner (Semah For Peace) in Trafalgar Square.*

Estimates of the number of Alevi in Turkey vary widely but they probably make around 15% of the population, including many Kurds. Their religion is generally considered a part of Shi’ism, but they worship in their own languages, men and women together; women are not required to cover their hair, and their worship incorporates their rich traditions of poetry, music and dance – Semah.

Turkey is a country ruled and dominated by Sunni Muslims and the Alevi have suffered centuries of religious persecution – sometimes violent, and while Christian and Jewish children in Turkish schools are exempted from the compulsory Sunni Muslim religious classes, Alevi are not.

The rally called for democracy in Turkey, an end to discrimination and persecution, and an end to this compulsory religious education.

They also called for all immigrant cultures in the UK to unite and fight to remind the UK government of its responsibilities towards them, saying they face “ignorance from institutions such as the health, education, police, social and political bodies.” They call for an equal education system which considers the needs of all different cultural backgrounds.

More at Alevi Protest Discrimination in Turkey & UK

Defend the Union Flag

Westminster

Around a hundred ‘patriots’ from the ‘South East Alliance’ marched down Whitehall carrying Union Flags to a rally with speakers from Britain First in support of Loyalist Flag protesters in Belfast.

*Britain First Northern Ireland organiser Jim Dowson with the man carrying the wreath*

Belfast City Council had decided only to fly the Union Flag on eighteen days a year as elsewhere in the UK, resulting in series of protests outside Belfast City Hall organised by a breakaway unionist group which disagrees with the peace process.

Around a hundred people came to the protest, mostly carrying Union flags, though there were a few Ulster and Orange flags also on show.

The marchers became silent at the Cenotaph where two wreaths were laid, one by the Kent Somme Society commemorating the Irishmen who died in the Battle of the Somme. They then marched on to Old Palace Yard for a rally.

*Paul Golding of Britain First, a former BNP councillor in Swanley on Sevenoaks District Council*

There were speeches from Paul Golding of Britain First, Paul Pitt of the South East Alliance and Britain First’s Northern Ireland organiser Jim Dowson who had been involved in the protests there.

*Paul Pitt of South East Alliance, formerly the EDL’s South East organiser.*

A few photographers were threatened by protesters but I suffered only some mainly relatively friendly banter from several who recognised me from other extreme right marches I had photographed, including some who mistook me for a Searchlight photographer.

More at Defend the Union Flag.

Fuel Poverty Rally & DAN Roadblock

Department of Energy and Climate Change Whitehall

A rally organised by Fuel Poverty Action and supported by Disabled People Against Cuts, Greater London Pensioners’ Association, Redbridge Pensioners’ Forum, Southwark Pensioners’ Action Group, Global Women’s Strike and others was a part of a national day of action against fuel price rises and the government’s energy policies

Cuts and rising prices now meant one in four families now have had to choose between heating their homes adequately or eating properly. Many children were going to school hungry and we had seen a phenomenal rise in the need for food banks – now even in the wealthier suburbs, with many unable to buy food.

Fuel Poverty Action say that the government was doing everything it could to keep the big six enery companies making profts while “disabled and elderly people are forced into libraries and shopping centres to keep warm and people with cancer freeze in their homes with the heating off” as crucial benefits are slashed.

Many also suffer from benefit sanctions, losing financial support often for trivial reasons or for things beyond their control – such as a cancelled bus making them arrive late for an appointment. There seems to be a particularly vindictive approach encouraged (or mandated) at job centres towards claimants.

At the end of the rally disabled activists, many in wheelchairs went out onto Whitehall blocking the southbound carriageway. Some pensioners joined them, handcuffing themselves to the wheelchairs and others came to stand around them in the roadway. There were some more speeches from some of the protesters.

*Protesters from the Disabled Peoples Direct Action Network move to block the road*

After around a quarter of an hour police came and talked with the protesters asking them to leave. They were still asking 15 minutes later and by then many of the protesters were feeling they had made their point and were ready to go for a cup of tea. When they told police they would leave in ten minutes I left to rush to the Reclaim Love party which had started over an hour earlier.

Much more at Fuel Poverty Rally & DAN Roadblock.

Reclaim Love Valentines Party

Piccadilly Circus

The 11th Reclaim Love free Valentine’s Party – and the 10th organised by Venus CuMara who started the whole thing in 2004 – took place around Eros in Piccadilly Circus, aiming to spread peace and love around the world, and to reclaim love from its commercial exploitation.

I arrived late, after people had joined hands in the large circle around Eros to make their call for peace and happiness around the world, but the party was continuing and I took rather a lot of pictures – here are a few.

*Venus CuMara straightens up the Reclaim Love banner*

*Free T-shirts – for the first time a donation was requested*

I’ve written more about Reclaim Love on My London Diary over the years, and there is some more, along with many more pictures from the 2013 event at Reclaim Love Valentine Party.

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Bubbles, Hula Hoops, Hugs & Venus – 2011

Bubbles, Hula Hoops, Hugs & Venus: The 8th Reclaim Love Valentine Party on Saturday 12th February 2011 was a little different from usual, but like the others called for universal love and peace and opposed the incredible commercialisation of St Valentines Day.

This year 2026, there are plans for another Reclaim Love:-
“You are invited to join us on Saturday February 14th (St. V. Day!) at 2:30pm for a 3:33pm LOVE CIRCLE by Eros in London’s Piccadilly Circus.
YES! It’s back! RECLAIM LOVE!…”

I hope it goes well – and hope to be there.

Before the 2011 party I had photographed a celebration of the success of the Egyptian Revolution in removing President Mubarek. Unfortunately things have not gone well for Egypt in the years since that euphoric moment.

Reclaim Love Pavement Party

Piccadilly Circus & Green Park

Bubbles, Hula Hoops, Hugs & Venus - 2011 — *Reclaim love presents an alternative to the commercial messages about Valentines day on the hoardings in Piccadilly Circus, watched by Eros and a helicopter far above.*

This was the 8th Annual Reclaim Love Pavement Party, organised by Venus “to celebrate the Greatest thing on Earth and the Greatest thing we have inside…Yes, Love!!!” It almost didn’t happen, but Irish poet and love activist Venus CuMara had been persuaded by many who had come to previous events to arrange another despite feeling she needed to rest. But her incredible energy and spirit shows in the many pictures I made of her at the event.

But Piccadilly Circus where the event was normally held was being reorganised and although the persuasive charms of Venus managed to get the workmen to tidy up the area to make it possible to meet there, holding the great circle which is the climax of the event was impossible.

Instead Venus led the group to a circle of 13 tall plane trees in Green Park for the event, where carefully avoiding the daffodils in the grass the circle was formed.

*Venus says it’s time to go to a very special place*

As well as this giant circle in London there were others forming to chant the same mantra “May All The Beings In All The Worlds Be Happy And At Peace” for around five minutes at the same time, 3.30pm UTC.

In 2010 there had been 7 circles in Ireland, 6 others in England, in Scotland, Wales, Pakistan, 2 in India, 4 in Spain, 2 in Italy, 3 in Germany, Austria, Iceland, France, Brazil, Argentina, 2 in New Zealand, 5 in the USA, Canada and Australia. And in 2011 for the first time there was to be one in Egypt.

After this as people began to party and dance in the centre of the tree circle – carefully avoiding the growing daffodils – two vans full of police drove up. Venus rushed to talk to them and explain what was happening and was told the the event was contravening a number of the bylaws of the Royal Parks, and it did not have the permissions needed.

Eventually Venus managed to convince the police the event was harmless and promised we would all leave the park by 4pm, and the police went away. I heard the officer who had been talking with Venus say to his colleagues: “I really thought I was in a parallel universe there” and indeed he had been.

And we did all leave, returning to continue to party around ‘Eros’ (Yes pedants, I know!). I was sorry to leave after after around half an hour, but the party apparently went on until late.

You can read a much fuller account of the event I wrote in 2011 on My London Diary, where of course there are many more pictures.

Reclaim Love Pavement Party

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NHS Privatisation, Iran & the Bologna 12 – 2012

NHS Privatisation, Iran & the Bologna 12: On Wednesday 8th February 2012 I photographed a mock trial of Health Minister Andrew Lansley against his disastrous Health and Social Care Bill, visited the two peace camps then in Parliament Square and finally went to the Italian Embassy for a protest calling for the release of the Bologna 12, accused of terrorism through their membership of communist organisations, much like those who support Palestine Action in the UK now.

Stop NHS Privatisation – Kill Lansley’s Bill

Old Palace Yard, Westminster

NHS Privatisation, Iran & the Bologna 12 - 2012 — *Pensioners in the protest outside Parliament*

The protest, organised by Hackney Keep Our NHS Public, drew campaigners from across the country for speeches and a mock trial of Health Minister Andrew Lansley as his bill was entering into its report stage. Among those taking part – if briefly – was shadow health minister Diane Abbott MP.

Lansley’s proposals were a clear step towards the privatisation of the NHS, still a continuing process under Labour’s Wes Streeting, despite many of the changes brought in by Lansley having been later abandoned after, according to the Darzi report commissioned by Streeting it “imprisoned more than a million NHS staff in a broken system for the best part of a decade.”

Lord Darzi’s report concluded that “The Health and Social Care Act of 2012 was a calamity without international precedent – it proved disastrous. The result of the disruption was a permanent loss of capability from the NHS“. As Streeting commented it ” led to the longest waiting times, lowest patient satisfaction, and most expensive NHS in history”, but that hasn’t stopped Streeting pursuing his own policies to further prepare the NHS and the country for its privatisation. Of course Lansley was awarded a life peerage in 2015 for his services to capitalism.

At the centre of the protest was the mock trial of Lansley with a judge with an impressive white wig and witnesses for the prosecution who spoke about their own experiences as patients and workers in the NHS.

Most still see the NHS, along with the other welfare state reforms of the period, as the greatest British achievements of the last century and for all its problems it still provides quality healthcare at a fraction of the cost of the US system which Lansley and his colleagues appeared to take as a model

Most importantly, provides services to the whole population including those who would be unable to pay expensive medical insurance. Over 60% of the two million personal bankruptcies filed each year in the US are a result of medical debt.

I don’t think there was much if any defence for Lansley, and the guilty verdict was inevitable. After the trial and a few stops a small group took the protest around Parliament Square, walking onto the various pedestrian crossings and facing the traffic holding up placards and the letters ‘S’, ‘T’, ‘O’ and ‘P’, usually but not quite always in that order and with a bed pan in the middle.

More at Stop NHS Privatisation – Kill Lansley’s Bill.

Parliament Square Peace Protests – No War in Iran

Parliament Square

It was a cold day and I had to keep moving, walking around Parliament Square and stopping to talk with peace protesters still then protesting 24/7 in the square. Police and new laws against protest had resulted in the removal of all tents and in restricting the protests to the pavement facing Parliament, but the protests were continuing.

Brian Haw who began his Peace Campaign on 2 June 2001 had left the square on 1 January 2011 for treatment in Berlin for lung cancer, dying there on 18 June 2011. Since he left his campaign had been continued by his supporters, led by Babs Tucker, who had protested for some years with Haw. They on Day 3903 of the protest, continuing in the brutal winter weather despite police having taken away all tents, chairs and other items three weeks earlier.

*Maria Gallastegui’s tent and one box remaining in the square*

Maria Gallastegui, for some years a regular supporter of Brian Haw, had broken with him and begun her separate Peace Strike in the square several years earlier. She had cooperated with the police in various ways – such as covering her displays for the 2011 royal wedding – and had been granted a temporary injunction restraining police actions agaist her; police had left her tent and her large ‘peace’ box – modelled on the old police boxes – on the square until her case was heard.

Haw’s Peace Camp had been subject to lying and of devious and underhand actions throughout the ten and a half years of their presence in the square, and they told me the police had intentionally delayed their legal action so they could take away their property before the claim came to court.

I went with the three people from the Peace Strike to the weekly protest with others opposite the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in King Charles Street to remind Foreign Secretary William Hague of their opposition to war in Iran. Their protest was continuing when I needed to leave to go to the Italian Embassy.

Parliament Square & No War in Iran

Release The Bologna 12

Italian Embassy, Grosvenor Square

The trial which was starting in Bologna that day of the twelve was being made under section 270bis of the Penal code introduced by the Fascist regime under Mussolini. They were brought as a part of a long campaign by Public Prosecutor Paolo Giovagnoli for the Authorities of the Papal Republic, aimed against freedom of expression and organisation of the left in Italy.

The twelve were accused of “subversive association for purposes of terrorism” for their membership of communist organisations and if they were convicted, similar prosecutions would be brought against those belonging to other groups outside the official left, including anarchists, Maoists and the Occupy movement.

It was a small token protest, with representative from groups including ‘Democracy and Class War’, ‘Socialist Fight’ and ‘Irish Republican Prisoners Support Group’ and began outside the impressive door in my picture in Grosvenor Square.

But after 20 minutes police came and very helpfully told them that they were in the wrong place. This was the back door of the embassy and they should be in Kings Yard at the front door. A man came out from the embassy and confirmed this and we all walked round to the gates outside the yard, while I went inside with two people who handed in a letter.

I went home as the protest continued. More at Release The Bologna 12.

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Police Protest & Lay Wreaths – 2008

Police Protest & Lay Wreaths: On Wednesday January 23rd 2008 around 20,000 police marched through London to demand more pay. As ‘crown servants’ rather than employees they are not allowed to take strike action or work to rule or any other collective action, but apparently organising a demonstration like this doesn’t count. As a part of their protest police officers and families of officers laid wreaths in a dignified ceremony at the National Police Memorial. I photographed the events and wrote about them in some length on My London Diary back in 2008, and here I’ll post that again – with some minor corrections, mainly of typos.

Police March for More Pay

Westminster

*Police on the march – along with BNP and Liberal Democrat candidates for London Mayor*

more pictures

Along with what seemed like a thousand other photographers, I had decided that the police demonstration against their recent pay award was one that I had to cover. (We did wonder idly whether it was also being a good day out for burglars and other crimes across the country – though of course all those attending the demo were off-duty.) But although it showed the ability of the Police Federation to motivate officers on the issue of pay, bringing coachloads from over the country, it was a drab event on a drab day.

For perhaps the one and only time, I’ve absolutely no reason to think that the figure given by police of around 20,000 attending was seriously in error. It was a significant size, although rather smaller than many other demonstrations I’ve photographed in current years. I think a more normal police estimate would probably have put it at 10,000! [Or rather less.]

Of course it’s axiomatic that the public services get screwed by governments, although, along with the armed forces the police have over the years got a relatively easy ride compared to teachers and others, and I’m pleased to see a current trend to reverse that.

*Most of the police came in coaches, but this group cycled from Exeter to London*

The ride by some Devon and Cornwall police from Exeter to be with the demonstration was one of the few point of interest – just a pity the demo wasn’t a couple of days later so they could have joined up with Critical Mass.

*Liberal Democrat Mayoral candidate Brian Paddick retired from the Met in May 2007*

The Evening Standard gave the event the headline ‘BNP Chief On Police March‘, and yes, the the Barking & Dagenham councillor and BNP Mayoral candidate Richard Barnbrook was there – as too was the Liberal Democrat Mayoral candidate Brian Paddick. Unlike Barnbrook, Paddick came to see the press at the beginning of the march for interviews and photographs, although it seemed to me that none of the police wanted to talk to him, though many had been his former colleagues. It may be OK now to be gay and out in the police, but if you have liberal views best hide them under your helmet.

The press and photographers aren’t too popular with the police either, and at one point when I walked along with the demonstration I was jostled and sworn at, told to get out. But 99% of the demonstration was well-behaved and just rather dull. How many pictures can you take of a crowd in white baseball caps?

As a crowd it really stood out in London for the very few black faces it contained – certainly very few compared even to the proportion among those policing the event, let alone those watching as it went through the streets around Victoria station.

more pictures

*The professional protest stall offers advice to the police on making placards and more*

Fortunately a few left-wing groups turned up to give the police some advice and examples on demonstrating. The Space Hijackers had a Professional Protesters Stall at Hyde Park Corner, offering advice on making placards (and materials – although I don’t think anyone took up their offer), handing out leaflets on ‘Your Rights as a Protester’ as well as some suitable chants.

Their
What do we want?
More Money!
When do we want it?
Backdated from Spetember 2007!
did draw a few smiles and even the occasional cheer from those walking past, but most officers showed a total lack of humour, and there was quite a lot of abuse and offensive language directed at them.

*Some officers allowed themselves to smile, but others were abusive, some using language that could have got them arrested if there were any police around*

more pictures

Earlier, a group of around twenty from ‘Class War’ had made their opposition clear at the start of the march; the slogan on one cartoon showing four pigs in police uniform reading ‘Bacon’s pricy enough’ [sic]. Another showed a member of the riot police being hit on the back of the head by a brick.

*A ‘FITwatch’ demonstrator is arrested when she refused to move out of the road*

Some FITwatch protesters gave out leaflets and then attempted to block the march by standing on the roadway. Their protest held up the start of the march for almost half an hour until the police on duty for the day made a couple of arrests.

Surrounded by a media scrum, police tried hard to keep things relatively calm and made repeated attempts to the two to go back onto the pavement before making the arrest.

more pictures

Police Honour Colleagues Killed on Duty

Police Memorial, The Mall

*Preparing to lay wreaths at the National Police Memorial*

I think there are many, many problems with the police, some of which arise from our problems with governments, but in some respects ours are still some of the better police forces around the world. Despite often having minor issues with them while working – and having once been threatened with a conspiracy to fit me up that was serious enough for me to make a complaint (and receive some kind of apology) there are still times I’m pretty glad they are there. Particularly when they drove up and rescued me from a vigilante attack.

Police – like firemen – frequently put themselves at risk through their work, at times requiring considerable bravery; and several thousands have lost their lives serving us over the years. Although this is something that deserves public recognition, I was not sure it was entirely appropriate to make use of the National Police Memorial as a part of the demonstration over pay. But the ceremony that took place was certainly solemn and dignified and expressed deep feelings among those taking part.

*The service was led by a police chaplain*

Officers and families from around the country made their way to the Police Memorial at the top of the Mall. There was a short service, including the laying of wreaths and a two minute silence, followed by the playing by two pipers.

more pictures.

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Crowds protest Trump’s Inauguration – 2017

Crowds protest Trump’s Inauguration: On Friday 20th January 2017 I was with a large crowd outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square all of us “appalled at the thought of a president who is a climate change denier, has a long history of racist and Islamophobic outbursts, has boasted of sexually assaulting women and has downplayed the severity of sexual violence.“

We stood in solidarity at a protest in solidarity with those protesting in the US who had called for protests around the world. This one had been organised by Stand Up to Racism and was supported by many other groups and individuals.

SUTR had set up a stage at the side of the Embassy in a corner of the square and invited a long list of the usual speakers, but the lighting made it difficult to photograph them, with strong lighting shining into the audience and the speakers largely in shadow. I soon gave up as I think they were all people I’d photographed many times and the protesters were far more interesting to me.

Among those protesting were members of the London Guantanamo campaign, some in orange jumpsuits, who have held regular monthly protests outside the embassy for around nine years.

Away from the SUTR bright lights it seemed very dark and I needed to work with flash. Both Trump’s name and his appearance are a gift to protesters as the pictures show.

It was good to see Charlie X as Chaplin back again from South Africa.

A group from the Campaign Against Climate Change had an illuminated banner with the message ‘Trump Climate Disaster’.

A woman held up a poster ‘Dear Queen, We’re sorry. Take us back? Love, An American‘.

To one side was a lone woman with a rosary and posters ‘God Bless Trump’. Nobody bothered her.

The statue of President Eisenhower was surrounded by protesters and I felt he looked less confident and happy than usual. Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in WW2, he had stood for president in 1952 against Taft who wanted to undo Roosevelt’s New Deal. But he had also considered using nuclear weapons in Korea and threatened China with them. Under his presidency we had a nuclear arms race, and he might have approved of Trump’s Nuclear Arms Race if not many of his other policies.

A woman holds a poster ‘WHEN ALL IS SAID AND ALL IS DONE WE HAVE BELIEFS, TRUMP HAS NONE’

F**k Trump

I left the Embassy protest to go to Trafalgar Square, where more radical groups were gathering for the F**k Trump protest.

*A giant orange Trump’s head in Trafalgar Square*

But while the group with the large orange head moved down from the North Terrace into the main Square and ignored the Heritage Wardens order to leave, not a lot seemed to be happening.

Police came and talked with the protesters who largely simply ignored them too, but not a lot appeared to be happening.

I was feeling cold and tired and decided it was time to go home. Later I heard that police had made an unprovoked attack on the protesters.

More on My London Diary:
Crowds protest Trump’s Inauguration
F**k Trump

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Anti-fascist Solidarity Against Golden Dawn – 2013

Anti-fascist Solidarity Against Golden Dawn: Saturday 19th January 2013 was an international day of action against the fascist Golden Dawn Party in Greece, and around 500 people had come to the Greek Embassy in Holland Park in solidarity with the demonstration against the party in Athens.

Golden Dawn, now described in Wikipedia as “a far-right neo-Nazi ultranationalist criminal organisation and former political party” had its origins in 1980 but only became prominent following the 2008 Greek debt crisis which resulted from the global financial crash and crippling austerity measures imposed on Greece by the EU and IMF.

The founder of the group, Nikolaos Michaloliakos, who called himself ‘Fuhrer’, is an ardent support of Adolf Hitler and a holocaust denier, and the group adopted similar symbolism, slogans, salutes and policies to the Nazis. They wanted to return Greece to a military dictatorship such as that which had ruled the country from 1967-74.

Golden Dawn seized on the existing racism and Islamophobia against immigrants and refugees by forming attack squads against them in the parts of Athens where they had most support, their actions covered by the support of the police who also launched their own operation conducting large numbers of strip searches and detentions – much like the current ICE in the USA.

In the Greek May and June 2012 elections Golden Dawn had got 6.9% of the vote and 18 MPs, with similar results in the 2015 elections. But by 2019 their vote had fallen below the 3% needed for them to have any representation in parliament, largely due to resistance by the working class through strikes and demonstrations and with the rise of the left-wing Syriza party.

In 2020 Michaloliakos and other prominent part members were found guilty of murder, attempted murder, and violent attacks on immigrants and left-wing political opponents and were sent to prison.

The London protest was organised by Unite Against Fascism (UAF) and “similar solidarity protests were taking place around the world, including in New York, Sydney, Barcelona, Lyons, Toronto, Dublin, Vienna, Moscow, Canberra, Warsaw, Chicago, Copenhagen, Montreal, Bilbao, Milan, Finland, Slovenia, Derry, Cork, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds and Bristol.”

There were speeches at the protest by some leading members of the British left, including Tony Benn and Jeremy Corbyn, as well as those from various Greek organisations, and I list some of the speakers in My London Diary. Among the speakers was Gerry Gable, the editor of Searchlight, long a powerful force against racist and fascist groups, who died recently.

*Police stop protesters going down the street to confront the small group of Golden Dawn supporters*

Elizabeth Mantzari of Solidarity with the Greek resistance “had just begun to speak hen there was an uproar down the road, as some of the crowd rushed to protest against a small group of right-wing supporters of Golden Dawn.”

Police quickly formed a line to stop others following them, and then began moving the anti-fascists back behind it away from the 15 ‘British Friends Of Golden Dawn’, some of whom I recognised from former EDL protests. I tried to talk to some of them but was insulted and accused of working for Searchlight – which unfortunately I had never done.

*Anarchist solidarity with the squats banner in front of the Greek Embassy*

The rally opposite the Greek Embassy continued, though I had missed some of the speeches. Clearly as I ended my account, “The protest was a success for the UAF, and yet another humiliation for the extreme right.”

More about the rally and many more pictures on My London Diary at Anti-fascist Solidarity Against Golden Dawn.

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Gaza, Freedom, Syria & Gay Tourism – 2014

Gaza, Freedom, Syria & Gay Tourism: Saturday 18th January 2014 was the fifth anniversary of the end of the 2008/9 Israeli massacre in Gaza, Operation Cast Lead in which around 1,400 people, many unarmed civilians were killed. I also photographed a rather unorganised protest by Anonymous against privatisation, cuts, environmental and other issues, a peace vigil by Syria Peace & Justice and finally Queer Strike and ‘No Pinkwashing’ picketing a beach-themed LGBT tourism event promoting Israel as a tourist destination.

Gaza Massacre 5th Anniversary

Israeli Embassy, Kensington

Gaza, Freedom, Syria & Gay Tourism - 2014

Around 500 people had come to a protest on Kensington High Street opposite the private road leading to the Israeli embassy. The attacks on Gaza in 2008-9, Operation Cast Lead, had shocked the civilised world, though the 1400 largely civilian deaths were on a small scale compared to the current ongoing genocide when over 70,000 have died, with deaths continuing daily since the so-called ceasefire.

As well as continuing Israeli attacks children and old people are now dying in Gaza due to the freezing conditions and inadequate shelter because of the destruction of buildings and the continuing Israeli restrictions preventing much of the humanitarian aid and critical supplies needed to keep people safe, alive and well.

The hundreds who came to the protest in 2014 kept up a noisy barrage of chanting calling for justice for the victims of Israel’s massacre and against the ongoing siege on Gaza for around an hour before a series of speeches.

Among those at the protest were many Palestinians as well as Jews some of whom had been leading the call for a boycott of Israeli goods. It was supported by a wide range of groups and on My London Diary I gave the following list : “Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Palestinian Forum in Britain, British Muslim Initiative, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Stop the War Coalition, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Friends of Al-Aqsa UK, Liberal Democrats Friends of Palestine, War on Want, Unite the Union, Public and Commercial Services Union, Amos Trust and ICAHD UK.”

More at Gaza Massacre 5th Anniversary.

Anonymous March For Freedom UK

Trafalgar Square to Parliament Square

This protest had been called by Anonymous supporters following their large protest on Novemeber 5th, but fewer than a couple of hundred had arrived. Some had instead gone to the Gaza protest, and like me will have arrived rather late for this event.

They were in one corner of Trafalgar Square and people took turns to speak at an open microphone. As well as those in ‘Anonymous’ masks I recognised many who had taken part in Occupy London.

Eventually someone suggested that they march to Parliament. For once the police facilitated this, suggesting they could walk along the southbound carriageway of Whitehall, and shepherding them across the traffic lights to do so. It “had been organised as a peaceful and family-friendly event, and this was the case, as they marched past Downing St with nothing more than a few shouts and rude gestures and on to Parliament Square.”

When they arrived outside Parliament “it became obvious that this was a protest without leaders, and with no real idea where they were going or what to do.” People – including some police made a number of suggestions but eventually they decided to stop in Parliament Square for a rally.

They were still on the roadway, but after a couple of minutes agreed to police suggestions that they move onto the pavement so that traffic could flow again.

There were then a few speeches followed by some discussion about what they should do next.

One suggestion was that they should stay where they were and party in Parliament Square and it seemed likely that they would do so.

I decided it was time to leave and walked back up Whitehall past a small crowd of police vans. The police were obviously taking no chances and I think probably outnumbered the protesters, although most simply sat in their vans.

Anonymous March For Freedom UK

Peace vigil for Syria

Trafalgar Square

Back in Trafalgar Square I found a small group from Syria Peace & Justice holding a peace vigil “calling for immediate humanitarian ceasefires and the release of all political prisoners and an inclusive Syrian-led peace process.”

The Geneva 2 peace talks were to start the following week and they said that the agenda was being “being set by major foreign powers like the US and Russia” and that only the Syrian government and a Turkey based Syrian group had been invited.

They demanded “an inclusive Syrian-led peace process that includes strong representation from Syrian women, Syrian civil society organisations and various moderate Syrian opposition groups.”

Peace vigil for Syria

Israeli Gay Tourism Pinkwashing

Villiers Street

Queer Strike, Women of Colour, the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, and people from the ‘No Pinkwashing’ campaign had come to picket an event promoting Israel as a tourist destination for LGBT people.

*A security man objects as the protesters block the arcade entrance briefly for photographs*

The Gay Star Beach Party LGBT tourism event claimed Tel Aviv to be “one of the best gay cities in the world” and together with the Israeli Tourism Board they were trying to persuade gay people to holiday there.

The protesters say that this is “pinkwashing”, an attempt to divert attention from human rights crimes against Palestinians, using opposition to homophobia to legitimise Israel and undermine support for Palestine. They called on those going to the event to boycott it and not go to Israel until it ends human rights abuses, recognises the Palestinians’ right to self-determination and complies with international law.

They handed out a card with five reasons for LGBT tourists to boycott Israel:

 - the military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza since 1967, with over 100 illegal Israeli settlements on land stolen from Palestinians;
  - the violence against Palestinian children, hundreds of whom are arrested each year and held in military detention without access to lawyers, mainly for alleged stone-throwing;
  - the inhuman siege of Gaza, blocking import of food, fuel and medical supplies and preventing the repair of many homes destroyed in the 2008-9 invasion by Israel;
  - the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homes and land which began in 19438 and still continues, creating millions of refugees;
 the apartheid system of roads reserved for Jewish Israelis, the apartheid wall and the many check points involving long waits and searches for Palestinians.

The protesters also highlighted Israel’s racist treatment of African people, There had been protests the previous week in Tel Aviv by 30,000 African asylum seekers and refugees demanding that all African refugees imprisoned in Israeli prisons and detention centres be freed and for recognition of their rights as asylum seekers and refugees.

Israeli Gay Tourism Pinkwashing

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