Brian Haw | >Re-PHOTO

Diana & Mass Lone Demo – 2006

Diana & Mass Lone Demo: On Thursday 31 August I went with a friend to the gates of Kensington Palace on the ninth anniversary of the killing of Princess Diana (I think I deliberately misspelt her name twice as Diane to show my lack of interest in the royals) before going to a pub in Kensington.

Later in the day I went to Parliament Square for the Mass Lone Demonstration suggested by Mark Thomas in response to the ludicrous and dangerous restrictions on protests in a large area around Parliament and other designated sites imposed in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.

Princess Diana, 9th Anniversary commemoration

Kensington Palace

The last day of the month was the ninth anniversary of Diana’s death, and her fans, including members of the Diana Circle, were at Kensington Palace to mark the event, taping flowers and tributes to the gates and fence. I’d gone to meet a friend, who had extensively photographed the scenes there in the days immediately following her death.

The fans had come from all over the country, and from Germany and elsewhere. Father Frank Gelli, who was curate of St Mary Abbots just down the road at the time of her death, led prayers at a short memorial service. Throughout the day more people arrived with tributes and flowers. Next year on the 10th anniversary there are hopes for a bigger event. [And I went again then.]

Kensington Palace has had a bit of a face lift, doubtless benefiting from the Diana effect on visitor numbers. However, rather than taking a visit there, we went to visit the Elephant And Castle, and old press pub, taking a short detour through St Mary Abbots on our way.

More pictures on My London Diary.

Mass Lone Demonstration

Parliament Square

Later in Parliament Square I got a small badge ‘Mass Lone Demonstration 31/8 Parliament Square‘. This was an idea from Mark Thomas, who had suggested that as many people as possible should give the required one weeks notice to the police that they planned a solo demonstration in parliament square from 6-7pm.

I’m not sure how many did so, though there were perhaps around 50 with different placards while I was there. If I’d heard about it in time, I would perhaps have applied and arrived with a poster “End Police Harassment Of Photographers“.

One of the stupidest things that the Labour government have done was to try to pass a law to get rid of Brian Haw, whose continuing protest opposite the Houses of Parliament was causing minor embarrassment to Labour ministers, particularly Mr Blair. They managed to tag it on to something called SOCPA, the Serious Organised Crime And Police Act 2005.

The blunt weapon they wielded banned all demonstrations without a weeks notice within a kilometre or so of parliament, and much to their disappointment it has so far failed to get rid of Brian. Actually he’s a reasonable man, and if they had instead done something serious to stop children being killed in Iraq he would have been out of the square immediately.

Instead they choose to strike at free speech for all of us. It’s a law that has so far resulted in some farcical prosecutions (though with serious consequences for those taken to court.) Many of the police I’ve talked to obviously feel the law is an ass, and resent having to try and enforce it. Often they’ve turned their backs and walked away from illegal events (or even escorted the people carrying them out when they were company directors), but it has also wasted huge amounts of public money when they have been pushed into action.

One of the provisions of the law is that a lone demonstration – one person with a placard – is automatically to be granted permission provided a week’s notice is given, although conditions may be attached either when the permission is granted or by a police officer on the spot. It was Mark Thomas who had the idea that there could be a large number of such demonstrations at the same time and place, and it was made public on several blogs and web sites.

Those taking part were encouraged to pick their own subject of protest – serious or silly – and you can see some of these in my pictures. Brian Haw, who has received limited permission to use a megaphone, was able to do so.

A few more pictures here on My London Diary.

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Cuban 5, Knives & Peace Strike – 2008

Cuban 5, Knives & Peace Strike: Saturday 7th June 2008 I photographed a protest following the dismissal of an appeal in Miami by five Cuban men held in the USA since 1998, a Seventh Day Adventist Church march against knife crime and a rally by the Peace Strike camped in Parliament Square.

Release the Cuban 5

Trafalgar Square

The Cuban 5 were Cuban intelligence officers who came to Miami to spy and infiltrate on the Cuban exile community after terrorist bombings by Cuban exiles had taken place in Havana, organised with the support of the CIA.

The five men were arrested in September 1998 and later convicted in Miami and given lengthy jail sentences. International concerns about their lack of a fair trial led an Atlanta Court of Appeals hearing which overturned their convictions in 2005, but this decision was soon overturned by the full court, who re-instated the original convictions.

In the week before this protest an appeal court in Miami upheld the convictions and the life sentence against Gerardo Hernandez and that of 15 years against Rene Gonzalez, but referred Ramon Labanino, Antonio Guerrero and Fernando Gonzalez for re-sentencing in Miami.

Rock Around the Blockade had protested at the US Embassy the previous Thursday as a part of an international day of protest and were in Trafalgar Square on Saturday to raise awareness and collect signatures for a petition calling for the release of the men.

Rene Gonzales was eventually allowed to return to Cuba for his father’s funeral in 2013 having served 13 years of his sentence and Fernando Gonzalez was released in February 2014. The three remaining prisoners were released later that year in a prisoner swap.

More at Release the Cuban 5.

Adventist Youth March against Knives, Guns & Violence

Trafalgar Square- Kennington Park

*Pathfinders – an Adventist youth group – wait for the march to start*

Seventh Day Adventist Church organisations had organised a youth rally in Trafalgar Square before marching to Kennington Park to make young people realise the dangers they face if they carry a knife.

Many feel that they need a knife to defend themselves if they are attacked by someone with a knife, but we know that meeting aggression with aggression carries a high risk.

*Carrying a gun can get you a five years, use it and you could get a life sentence*

I wrote: “Communities need to police themselves more effectively and to cooperate with the police when they cannot deal with situations without them. The problem is one that needs both strong community organisations and sensitive policing. I hope that Boris will be encouraging and putting resources into community organisation in the inner city and not just stepping up policing.”

He didn’t.

Youth March against Knives

Peace Strike – Parliament Square

*Maria Gallastegui explains about the Peace Strike*

The Peace Strike had joined the peace protesters already in Parliament Square in Brian Haw’s Peace Campaign there since 2001.

Maria Gallastegui had set up Peace Strike to call on people to take effective action for peace by striking, withdrawing their labour if only for short periods. The campaign against the invasion of Iraq had shown the marches, even huge marches, did not stop the war.

At the marches before the invasion began, speakers including Tony Benn had called for people to strike if the war went ahead, but when it happened Stop The War had simply decided to call yet another march.

Peace Strike aimed to build actions not just in the UK but globally which will demonstrate that people are willing to strike for peace and the future of humanity. In June 2008 an attack on Iran was a major threat, with the US building up forces.

As well as speeches we all enjoyed the playing and singing of singer/songwriter Harry Loco who had come from Holland, and as well as his own songs he gave a fine performance of a Dylan number.

Peace Strike – Parliament Square

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Brian, Bears, Morris and May Queens – 2006

Brian, Bears, Morris and May Queens: On Saturday 13th May 2006 I went to Parliament Square where I photographed resident peace protester Brian Haw and Morris Dancers, going on to more dancers performing in Trafalgar Square as a part of a Westminster Day of Dance. From there the Underground took me out to Hanger Lane from where I walked to Brentham to photograph the 100th anniversary of the first Brentham May Queen crowning.

Brian Haw at Parliament Square

Brian and the Bears

Brian, Bears, Morris and May Queens - 2006

Brian Haw lost the appeal by the government over his protest in Parliament Square, the court deciding that the Serious Organised Crimes And Police Act did apply to his protest after all, despite it having started around 4 years before the act came into force. It seems to be a decision that reflects more on the ability of the government to apply pressure rather than one that suggests an independent judiciary.

At the moment, Brian is still there, his protest now regulated by the police, but it seems rather likely that at some moment the feel convenient they will decide to terminate it. On Saturday morning I went to have a short word with him and take some more pictures, particularly of some of the bears who are with him.

His protest from the start has been about the killing of children, at first by the effects of sanctions, then by the war, and the teddy bear symbolises this (I think of one of the most poignant images from the Second World War, by Cecil Beaton, of a child in a hospital bed with a teddy bear.) I hope to be back to see Brian tomorrow, with a few friends, if he is still there. [He was, and depite constant harassment remained there until ill-health forced him to leave in 2011, dying in a German hospital six mohnths later.]

More pictures

Westminster Morris Dance Day

St Margarets & Trafalgar Square

For several years there has been a dance festival in Westminster in May, with teams of Morris Dancers from around the country. I caught up with them briefly dancing in front of St Margaret’s Church next to Westminster Abbey, then a little later in Trafalgar Square.

Although i’ve never had a great desire to take up Morris myself, it certainly is one of our English traditions, going back at least 500 years – the first written record of it is in 1448.

It was still alive in many villages in the nineteenth century and a revival started in the early twentieth century particularly through the work of Cecil Sharp, who collected over 170 different dances around the country and started the English Folk Dance Society in 1911. Sharp and Mary Neal published books of dances, and in the 1920s and 30s, country dancing became a part of most young school children’s week. How I hated it in the 1950s!

It is perhaps that enforced participation that led to Morris Dancing being thought of as something false and lacking in credibility. In a curious anomaly, our Arts Councils refuse to support English ethnic dances while (quite rightly) giving aid to foster dance and related activities among minority ethnic groups. Despite this, Morris Dancing has continued to grow both in the UK and now increasingly abroad, particularly in Canada and the USA.

All the teams in Trafalgar Square were men, although there are also many women dancers. One of the things that comes out in my pictures is that the dance is at times a very athletic event. Many of the traditional dances use swords or staves and have a link to martial arts. Morris also has a strong link to another English tradition, the ale house.

More pictures

Brentham Centenary May Day Festivities

Brentham Estate, Ealing

May continued for me with another May Queen. Last year (2005) I had photographed the oldest continuing May Queen event at least in the London area, the Merrie England and London May Queen Fayre at Hayes, Kent, held continuously since 1913. This year I went instead to Brentham, where a May Fayre with maypole dancing was held in 1906, and its centenary was held this year.

For this event, the organisers had managed to find and invite along many former May Queens, including some from the 1950s. Some had come long distances to be there, including one now living in America.

Brentham was one of the earliest “garden village” estates, built by ‘Ealing Tenants’ a co-partnership housing scheme started in 1901 and largely completed by 1915. The road layout was designed by Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker, and it was in many ways a model for other and better known garden villages.

The Brentham May Queen is less formalised that the south London events, with little or no long speeches and ceremonies (unlike Hayes it was not set up by a Dulwich schoolmaster.)

As well as the May Queen Elect and previous May Queens, each with a small group of attendants, there is also a herald who leads the parade (aided today by a brass band) Brittania, Sailor and Soldier, and, leading the large group of around 150 young girls dressed in white with flowers, a Jack In The Green, covered with leaves, with just bare legs and sandals visible.

*The crowning of the 2006 Brentham May Queen*

After the parade around the area, there was a short ceremony in one of the fields by the River Brent in which last year’s May Queen crowned the new queen, and a very short speech. Following this were country dances and dancing round the maypole, but I left before this began.

Many more pictures begin here.

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Stop the War – Troops Out – 2008

Stop the War – Troops Out: The protest organised by Stop the War, CND and British Muslim Initiative on Saturday 15th March, 2008 was an impressive one, with around 50,000 marchers calling for the withdrawal of our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, no attack on Iran and a free Palestine, as well as many other groups drawing attention to other issues around the world including the genocide in Somalia.

It began with a rally in Trafalgar Square where speakers included Tony Benn and Bruce Kent and then took a roundabout route across Westminster Bridge and then back over the Thames on Lambeth Bridge and up Millbank to Parliament Square. Those at the rear of the march were still passing the corner of the square when those at the front arrived back there.

It was an event that included many issues still relevant now, particularly over Iran and Palestine, but also on direct action, with a reminder of the then upcoming trial of the Raytheon 9, anti-war activists who had entered the Raytheon factory in Derry in August 2006 after learning that Raytheon missiles were being used by Israel in their 2006 invasion of Lebanon.

Occupying the offices for eight hours before they were arrested they destroyed computers and documents, and six were tried for criminal damage and affray in May 2008. One man was found guilty of stealing two computer disks but they were all acquitted on all other charges.

The police took a great deal of interest in the protest, with FIT teams who photograph protesters (and journalists, particularly photographers) took an unusual interest in anarchist protesters from Class War, the Anarchist Federation and FITwatch who use their banner to try to prevent the police taking photographs and video.

I missed seeing four of the FITwatch protesters arrested, apparently for intimidating the police. As I commented, “Since a couple of weeks ago one of their photographers and his minder had been seen taking flight and seeking refuge up the steps of the National Gallery when pursued by a polite and always well behaved woman with a shopping trolley and free cakes – much to the amusement of other police present – intimidating the FIT doesn’t seem too difficult.“

But this – like the many large pro-Palestine protests since ‘September 7th’ – was an entirely peaceful protest, calling for peace in many areas around the world and for an end to UK involvement in wars and oppression.

It was a lively protest, with samba band, sound systes, street theatre and dancing. People laid flowers at Nelson Mandela’s statue and Brian Haw – still permanently camped in Parliament Square despite the attempts to remove him by passing SOCPA – joined the protest.

And like all of these marches it also included many Jewish marchers including the Neturei Karta ultra-orthodox anti-Zionists.

You can see many more pictures which also cover other aspects of the march on My London Diary at Stop the War/CND/BMI – Troops out.

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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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Antifa Remember Carlos, TOTAL, Musharraf & More – 2007

Antifa Remember Carlos, TOTAL, Musharraf & More: I spent Saturday November 24th 2007 travelling around London to photograph protests. On the South Bank, anarchists were remembering Carlos Presente killed by fascists in Madrid earlier in the month, protests were taking place at TOTAL garages across the country for their support for the repressive Burmese regime – and I went to several of those in London. Pakistanis protested at Downing Street against President Musharraf and there were a number of protests in Parliament Square. Below are a few of the pictures and the text I wrote in 2007, with links to more images.

Antifa Remember Carlos Presente

Jubilee Gardens

Antifa Remember Carlos, TOTAL, Musharraf & More — *A comrade speaks at the memorial rally*

Carlos Presente was only 16, but was already active in opposing fascism in his native Spain. Along with other antifascists, he had stood on the street to defend one of Madrid’s multiracial working class areas when Nazis held an demonstration against immigrants.

After the demonstration on 11th November, 2007, Carlos and a comrade were attacked and stabbed while waiting on an underground platform by one of the fascists who had been demonstrating. The hunting knife went through his heart and he bled to death.

The Anarchist Federation – IFA and Antifa Britain held a short memorial rally to honour Carlos. Fittingly it was at the memorial for those who fought against fascism in the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s in London’s Jubilee Gardens.

More pictures

TOTAL Day of Action – London

Kilburn, Kensal Green & Baker St

The French oil company, TOTAL, is the fourth largest oil company in the world, and the largest supporter of the Burmese military regime. Although the media hardly noticed the country before the recent outrages against monks, it has long been one of the most brutal dictatorships around.

It holds over 1300 political prisoners, many subject to routine torture, makes widespread systematic use of forced labour and uses rape as a deliberate policy against women from some of its ethnic minorities.

It also has more child soldiers than any other country and spends roughly half the government budget on the military – and much of that budget derives from TOTAL.

Saturday saw demonstrations across the country against TOTAL garages, urging motorists not to support the repression in Burma by buying from TOTAL. There were at least 11 demonstrations in London, and I went to photograph at three of them, in Kilburn, at Kensal Green and [after photographing other protests below in this post] at Baker Street.

It wasn’t surprising, given the widespread nature of the action that numbers at some garages were small. I left Baker St after an hour – half-way through the demonstration, and more people turned up after I’d gone.

More pictures

Pakistanis Protest at Commonwealth Suspension

Downing St, Whitehall

I don’t know what fraction of Britain’s Pakistani population supports President Musharraf. Polls earlier in the year in Pakistan showed that almost two thirds of the population thought he should stand down. Of course there are some here who owe their positions to him, and certainly others who support him.

So it was hardly surprising to find a couple of hundred protesters in Whitehall on Saturday afternoon opposite Downing Street following the decision on Friday by a committee of Commonwealth foreign ministers to suspend Pakistan because Musharraf had imposed emergency rule – and then sacked the judges who were about to rule his proposed next term as President unlawful.

More pictures

Peace Strike and other happenings

Westminster

*Problems with the amplification didn’t prevent the24 hour picket starting*

Cold weather is not kind to batteries, and the overnight frost killed those used for the amplification in Parliament Square, so although some supporters had turned up for the ‘Peace Strike’ the planned starting rally couldn’t take place.

*Demonstrators in Parliament Square to mark 500 days in captivity for the two Israeli soldiers whose capture by Hezbollah led Israel to attack Lebanon.*

A few more pictures

[As darkness fell I made my way to my final protest of the day at the Baker St TOTAL garage.]

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Martyrdom of Ali, Save Fallujah – 2004

Martyrdom of Ali, Save Fallujah: I had a fairly long and busy day on Sunday 7th November 2004, beginning with the annual London celebration of the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Ali, the first Imam of Shi’ite Islam. From Park Lane I walked to Parliament Square where a protest demanded that the troops were withdrawn from Iraq.

This was the day when US and UK troops began the bloody offensive of the Second Battle of Fallujah, codenamed ‘Operation Phantom Fury’, fighting against Iraqis in militia of all stripes including both Sunni and Shia, united in opposition to the US-imposed Shia-dominated government.

Finally I went to Trafalgar Square and took a few pictures of the Diwali celebrations taking place there, although I didn’t post any of these at the time on My London Diary.

Diwali in Trafalgar Square, Martyrdom of Ali, Save Fallujah - 2004

In this post I’ll reproduce (with minor corrections) what I wrote in 2004, along with some of the pictures I took. These were made with the first digital DSLR camera I owned, the 6Mp Nikon D100, and most were made with a Nikon 24-85mm lens (36-127mm equivalent), though I had recently got a second lens, a Sigma 12-24mm (18-36 equivalent.) The Sigma wideangle was rather slow and working at f5.6 in low light was difficult as the D100 which did not have the high ISO capabilities of more modern cameras.

Muslims mourn in London

Hyde Park and Park Lane

Martyrdom of Ali, Save Fallujah - 2004 — *Talks and prayers before the procession started in Hyde Park*

Sunday saw Muslims on the street for a religious event, a Jaloos & Matam on the Martyrdom anniversary of Imam Ali, organised by Hub-e-Ali, making its way from Hyde Park down Park Lane carrying a taboot or ceremonial coffin.

The event started with prayers, addresses and a mourning ceremony.

The banners carried included texts from the ‘purified five‘ members of the prophet’s family, but particularly Hasan Bin Ali Bin Abu Talib, the cousin and first believer in the prophet.

There was some impressive chanting and much beating of breasts (matam or seena-zani) by the men, chanting and sticks of incense being burnt. The women followed quietly behind.

*The women followed, their black-clad quiet dignity contrasting with the frenzied chest-beating of the men*

More images start here on My London Diary

Withdraw the Troops from Iraq – Save Fallujah From Destruction

Parliament Square and Whitehall

I met Dave at the procession on Park Lane and walked with him to Parliament Square where a demonstration was to be held demanding the withdrawal of troops from the cities of Iraq. From the news that morning it seemed the Americans were about to storm Fallujah. [They did – see below *]

The large anti-war organisations seemed to be keeping strangely quiet, and there were only a hundred or two demonstrators here.

Among them of course was Brian Haw, now almost two and a half years into his permanent protest in the square, which seems likely to lead MPs to pass a bill specially to make such protests illegal.

I admire him for making such a stand, even if I don’t entirely share his views, and feel it will be a very sorry day for civil liberties in this country if such activities are banned.

There were a few placards and banners, and some people who had come with white flowers as requested.

There were few takers for the ‘open mike’ and nothing much was happening until a group of ‘Code Pink’ supporters intervened theatrically parading a black-dressed cortège around the square. The effect was literally dramatic.

There were a few more speeches, including a moving one by Iraqi exile Haifa Zangana.

It was getting dark (or rather darker, as it had been dull and overcast, with the odd spot of rain all day) as we moved off up Whitehall towards the Cenotaph, where the funeral wreath was laid on the monument.

Police tried (although it is impossible to see why) to restrict the number of those putting flowers on the monument to an arbitrary five, but those who had brought flowers were not to be so easily diverted.

*People wait for police to allow them to lay their flowers at the Cenotaph*

They ignored police orders and walked across the empty roadway to lay their flowers, and around 50 of the protesters staged a sit-down on the road.

Eventually the police warned them they would be removed forcibly if they did not get up, and then started to do so.

*Police drag demonstrator away as peace protestor Brian Haw holds a placard “War Kills the Innocent” in front of Cenotaph and Code Pink wreath, “How Many Will Die in Iraq Today?”.*

For the most part the police used minimum force, but there were one or two unnecessarily unpleasant incidents.

The protesters were then corralled for a few minutes on the pavement before being allowed to continue the demonstration in the pen opposite Downing Street.

Nothing much seemed to be happening, so I went home [via the Diwali celebrations in Trafalgar Square] when police refused to let me photograph from in front of the barriers.

It seemed an arbitrary and unnecessary decision, but this time I couldn’t be bothered to argue. I think they were just upset because I had taken pictures during the violence a few minutes earlier.

*More about Fallujah

The Second Battle of Fallujah lasted about six weeks and probably resulted in around 2,000 fighters dead and many wounded, mostly Iraqis, with just 107 of the coalition forces killed. Another roughly 1,500 Iraqis were captured.

US forces had stopped all men between 15 and 50 from leaving the city, and treated all those left inside as insurgents. Civilian deaths were later estimated at between 4,000 and 6,000. Civilians who were able to fled the city and around 200,000 became displaced across Iraq. Around a sixth of the city’s buildings were destroyed and roughly two thirds suffered significant damage.

The US forces were heavily criticised for their direct use of white phosphorus in the battle against both combatants and civilians. Highly radioactive epleted uranium shell were also used and a survey in 2009 reported “a high level of cancer, birth defects and infant mortality” in the city.”

More pictures from the protest on My London Diary.

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Scrap Tuition Fees & No More Fallujahs – 2006

Scrap Tuition Fees & No More Fallujahs: On Sunday 29th October 2006 I went to the start of a National Union of Students march against university tuition fees, first introduced by New Labour under Tony Blair in 1998. University education had been free across the UK since 1945, with local authorities meeting the bill rather than students. In 2004, these fees, initially £1,000 a year, were increased to £3,000. In 2025 fees are now £9.535 a year and a major reform is expected later which will probably result in University education becoming even more expensive.

From there I left to cover a demonstration in Parliament Square where people were intending to set up a 24 hour ‘unauthorised’ peace camp protesting about the battles fought largely by US Marines against the Iraqi city of Fallujah in April and November 2004.

In the November battle US troops used white phosphorus, stopped military age males from leaving the city and treated all the inhabitants as combatants. The levelled thousands of buildings, denied Red Crescent access and according to the UN used “hunger and deprivation of water as a weapon of war against the civilian population“. Their use of depleted uranium shells led after the fighting to a high level of cancer, birth defects and infant mortality in the city.

This protest was illegal under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 which had required any demonstration within one kilometre of Parliament Square (excluding those in Trafalgar Square) to give written notice to the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police six days in advance.

It was as a way to prevent embarrassment to politicians by seeing or hearing protests taking place, and to remove the permanent Peace Camp by Brian Haw which had been in Parliament Square since 2001, but it failed to do so, though it did lend to increased harassment of him by police and more shadowy figures. In 2011 these sections of the Act were repealed and the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 imposed different and in some ways more draconian restrictions on the right to protest.

Below is the text I wrote about these events in 2006.

NUS – Scrap Tuition Fees March

Malet St

I arrived in Malet Street early for the start of the NUS march against tuition fees, but there were already plenty of students there, including many Scottish students who had come down to show solidarity.

My father had left school at 14, at the end of his elementary education and never managed to complete the part-time studies which he had once dreamt would lead to qualifications. I came from the first generation of my family who could go to university, thanks to the 1944 Education Act that opened up secondary education and also the free tuition and student grants that were available. Without that support I would never have gone to university.

Both my sons were also fortunate to be able to study without having to pay tuition fees, [and to get maintenance grants] and were able to leave university with a degree and no debts.

Things are rather different for most of today’s students, with tuition fees now at £3000 a year, and costs of accommodation increasing all the time.

The NUS is campaigning for free education, but also calling for a cap on fees, as some universities call to be able to raise them without limits. Already the current level of fees seems to have led to a drop in the numbers of students entering universities.

more pictures on My London Diary

No More Fallujahs: Peace Camp

Parliament Square

I left shortly before the march started to get to Parliament Square, where the 24 hour ‘unauthorised’ Peace Camp, ‘No More Fallujahs’, was about to start. Potestors formed a circle and joined Maya Evans and Milan Rai in reading the names of Iraqis who have died as a result of the occupation.

*Milan Ray and Maya Evans read the names; Maya sounds a bell after each name*

A year ago, the two were arrested in Whitehall for a similar reading. In december 2005 Maya was the first person to be convicted for taking part in an unauthorised demonstration under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act, and in April 2006, Milan was convicted for organising the demonstration.

Maya is appealing against her conviction and fine, but was risking a prison sentence as arrest for this action would break the terms of her 12-month conditional discharge. Milan has refused to pay the fine of £350 with £150 costs imposed on him, and is also appealing to a higher court.

The demonstrators formed a circle in Parliament Square and began reading the names at one minute intervals, each marked by a bell. Various volunteers joined Maya and Milan in reading names from the list.

The police simply stood and watched for around half and hour, then at 12.30 began to circulate and hand out a notice to everyone that they were a part of an illegal demonstration. Where people refused to take one, they left a copy at their feet.

The officers concerned were extremely patient and polite, and were attended by a police photographer filming everything they did. Rather to my surprise one officer insisted I have a copy, despite my assurances that I was press, so I took it, while being recorded for yet another 15 seconds of so of video by the photographer, pointing out that I always complied with police directions.

It isn’t as if I’m unknown to the police. Earlier in the day in Malet Street, as I walked past two officers, one turned to the other and said “looks who’s here then.” I turned and gave them a smile.

After that, the protestors decided it was time to pitch their tents, and soon the square was covered with small tents, mainly blue. For a while nothing much seemed to be happening, and I went away for an hour or two.

When I returned, the news was that police had taken four people away. they had been approaching individuals involved in the demonstration and asking them to give their name and address.

They were told that they could then later expect a summons for taking part in an illegal demonstration. People were informed that if they did not give their details, they would be taken to the police station and arrested for taking part in the event.

While I was there several other people were questioned and one was taken away when he refused to give his details. Those who gave their names and addresses seemed to be allowed to continue to take part in the demonstration. While I was present, everything was conducted civilly and without any violent handling of those concerned, although I was told there had been a little rough handling of at least one person.

The demonstrators held an open meeting in the centre of the square to discuss what to do in the event of a more concerted approach by the police, while on the corner by Churchill’s statue, Brian Haw was making use of his megaphone to hold his weekly service. Its a sermon I’ve heard many times and I felt it was time to go home.

More pictures on My London Diary.

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Iraq Oil, Freedom, Rosary Crusade & Parliament Square – 2008

Iraq Oil, Freedom, Rosary Crusade & Parliament Square: Saturday 11 October 2008 was another varied day, beginning with protests against the US grab of Iraq’s oil and tthe increasing control over our lives by governments and corporations. I then photographed a walk of public witness by Catholics in London before going to Parliament Square were I found a number of smaller protests.

100 Days to stop Bush & Cheney’s Iraq Oil Grab!

Shell Centre

Iraq Oil, Freedom, Rosary Crusade & Parliament Square - 2008 — *A giant Dick Cheney looms over Iraqi Oil outside the Shell Centre*

In 1972 the Iraqi government took over Iraqi oil, nationalising the Iraq Petroleum Company which was jointly owned by the world’s largest oil companies, and it provided 95% of government revenue.

Many of us thought that the main reason behind the 2003 invasion of Iraq was to get the country to hand over most of the oil reserves to foreign companies, particularly Shell and BP.

In 2007 the US-backed Iraqi cabinet had approved a new oil law, strongly opposed by Iraqi trade unions and oil experts, but driven by expert consultants supplied by the UK and US who previously worked at a high level for companies like Shell and BP which would give the foreign oil companies control over oil production and in 2008 the Iraqi Oil Ministry began to announce contracts with former partners in the IPC, ExxonMobil, Shell, Total and BP as with Chevron and others.

The protest came at the start of the final 100 days of President Bush’s administration in the US and was organised by ‘Hands of Iraqi Oil’, a coalition whose members include Corporate Watch, Iraq Occupation Focus, Jubilee Iraq, PLATFORM, Voices UK, and War on Want and supported by the Stop the War Coalition and others.

The samba band, brass band, ‘oil workers’ and others came to protest at the Shell Centre with a giant figure of US Vice-President Dick Cheney and a mock oil well as well as some with Iraqi flags.

I left them shortly after they set off to march first to protest outside BP’s headquarters in St James’s Square and then on to the US Embassy to go to New Scotland Yard.

Bush & Cheney’s Iraq Oil Grab

Freedom not Fear 2008

New Scotland Yard

Freedom not fear 2008 was an international protest in over 20 countries against excessive surveillance by governments and businesses, organised by a broad movement of campaigners and organisations.

*A camera behind this person dressed in a sinister black suit and hood*

The main UK event was a protest outside the Metropolitan Police headquarters, New Scotland Yard, then still in Victoria Street, Westminster. The protest was against the restriction of the right to demonstrate under SOCPA, the intimidatory use of photography by police FIT squads, the proposed introduction of ID cards, the increasing centralisation of personal data held by government, including the DNA database held by police, the incredible growth in surveillance cameras, ‘terrorist’ legislation and other measures which have affected our individual freedom and human rights.

The protest was within the area where restrictions on protests were introduced by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA) which required the protesters to have given written notice to the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police six days in advance for the event. But of course they had not as a part of the protest.

Police tried hard to give protesters SOCPA notices telling them that the protest was illegal but few took them or any interest in them. Some of the officers joked with the protesters who included People in Common and FitWatch, but sensibly they did not attempt to break up the protest or make any arrests, or at least not in the three-quarters of an hour or so I was present.

Freedom not Fear 2008

Rosary Crusade of Reparation

Westminster Cathedral

*Young girls in white communion dress walked beside the statue of Our Lady of Fatima*

I walked the short distance along Victoria Street to Westminster Cathedral where people were gathering for the Rosary Crusade of Reparation. This began in Austria in 1947 as a campaign by a Franciscan priest to free the country from communist control, and is said to have played a part in the Russian decision to allow Austria its independence in 1955.

THe first annual procession with the statue of Our Lady of Fatima took place in 1948 in Vienna on the feast of the Name of Mary, Sept 12th. This feast was set up by Pope Innocent XI in 1683 after Turkish invaders surrounding Vienna were defeated by Christian armies who had prayed to the Blessed Virgin.

*Families at the front of the large crowd in the procession*

The procession in London takes place on the nearest Saturday to the final appearance of Our Lady at Fatima in October 1917, close to the end of the First World War, when those present saw the sun dancing around in the sky, and she promised peace and an end to war if men showed contrition for their sins and changed their lives.

This was the 25 annual procession in London and had as its special theme atonement for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill then passing through Parliament.

I photographed the start of the procession which was making its way slowly to Brompton Oratory.

More at Rosary Crusade of Reparation.

Parliament Square

I’d gone to Parliament Square to look for a two-man protest by the two Bens from the ‘Still Human Still Here‘ campaign dedicated to highlighting the plight of tens of thousands of refused asylum seekers who are being forced into abject poverty in an attempt to drive them out of the country. The two men had spent two weeks in a tent in the square living on the emergency rations that the Red Cross will supply to these inhumanely treated asylum seekers.

In the square I found a number of other protests taking place. Of course Brian Haw was there – as he had been for over 7 years – and I saw him being insulted by a man who smelled strongly of alcohol. There was a small group of Tamils who told me that they were part of a campaign giving out leaflets all over the centre of London about the ethnic cleansing taking place in Sri Lanka. Another small group, ‘London Against Detention’, was campaigning to close down Asylum detention centres.

In the corner close to the statue of Churchill was a man who told me he had been on hunger strike for two weeks in a protest to get his case properly investigated. He claimed to have been abused by police and social services following an incident in which as a seven year old child in Llanelli he was implicated in the death of a baby brother.

Finally I saw another group of people hurrying along the street opposite towards Whitehall carrying posters. I chased after them and found that they were Obama supporters hoping to persuade Americans they met to register and vote in the US election.

More at Parliament Square.

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Bring All the Troops Home NOW – 2007

Bring All the Troops Home NOW: CND and Stop The War had called for a march to Parliament on 8th October 2007 to arrive when Gordon Brown was making his statement to Parliament on Iraq where British troops were still present having taken part in the US-led invasion in 2003.

They wanted to march to make clear that all UK troops should come back here now. The invasion of Iraq in 2003 had led to the fall of Saddam Hussein but had been made without any real thought for the future of Iraq – except for the profits which US companies hoped to make. Saddam’s civil and military administration which had united the country were simply removed rather than being put to use to keep the country running and chaos reigned. Iraq didn’t need foreign armies but needed real support to set up a new civil society and that had not been forthcoming.

Gordon Brown tried to ban the protest, using “Sessional Orders” to the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police for him to prevent the march under section 52 of the Metropolitan Police Act 1839. But CND and Stop The War made clear it would go ahead despite this.

On the morning of the march Prime Minister Gordon Brown – probably reacting both to huge public pressure and legal advice – lifted the ban, thus avoiding a huge burden on both police and courts. They might otherwise have ended with thousands of arrests – and cases which the courts would probably throw out.

Around ten years later the powers that the Brown government had attempted to use were officially recognised to no longer have any legal effect – something I suspect had been part of legal advice given to Brown in 2007.

Last Saturday, October 4th 2025, I again watched a protest by Defend Our Juries in defiance of the government’s proscription of Palestine Action under terrorist laws, with police arresting almost 500 people for sitting holding a piece of cardboard with a message supporting the banned group. Many of those arrested seemed to be elderly and some also disabled, though there were also younger people.

The protestersy presented no danger to public order – other than challenging the legally doubtful ban on the group who few outside the government and those making arms for sale to Israel who had been heavily lobbying for a ban – believe could be described as terrorists. And this is something to be shortly tested in the courts. And the arrests made the police look unfeeling and stooges of the government rather than a force acting with the consent of the people.

Perhaps our current Labour government should have learnt from the example of George Brown in 2007. Supposedly we are a nation where the police operate by consent – which was clearly not the case here – and the police should have made this clear to the government and simply ignored this and earlier protests by ‘Defend Our Juries’. Which would of course have made the action – with people coming on purpose to be arrested and waiting patiently for hours for it to happen – totally ineffectual. And we do after all we have many laws which people – especially motorists – break every day and the police ignore.

Defend Our Juries also protests against the practice by some judges in some courts to prevent those charged from making a defence of their actions and instructing juries that they cannot use their consciences in coming to decisions – both vital protections essential to a fair legal system. Actions introduced into our legal system because successive governments have been angered by the decisions reached by juries in some cases. But it should not be the job of our legal system to serve the government but to serve the people and these developments endanger the whole basis of trial by jury which protects us and our democracy.

Here’s what I wrote in 2007 about the march and rally on 8th October 2007. All the pictures in this post come the event and there are many more on My London Diary.

Brian Haw’s t-shirt summed up the disaster: “Iraq 2,000,000 dead 4,000,000 fled genocide theft torture cholera starvation” though there were a number of other crimes to mention, in particular the poisoning of so much the area for generations to come through the dumping there of so much of our nuclear waste in the form of ‘depleted uranium’ weapons.

I was surprised at the level of support for Monday’s demonstration, a day when many of the supporters of the campaign would have been at work, and I had expected hundreds rather than the three thousand or so who actually turned up. The government’s clumsy ban on the event, using 1839 legislation passed against the Chartists, drummed up support, and to such an extent that on the morning of the rally they had to climb down and allow the march and the lobby of parliament to proceed.

Later in the day, the success of the demonstration even became rather an embarrassment for Stop The War, who when I left around 4.30pm, two hours after the start of the march, were trying to help police in clearing the large crowd who were still blocking Parliament Street, Parliament Square and St Margaret St, urging them to move along to College Green. Later in the day a small group of protestors took down the barriers on the grassed area of parliament square, piling them up.

But the real embarrassment was for Gordon Brown, forced to climb down and allow democratic protest. Unfortunately he didn’t do the decent and sensible thing (and surely now inescapably the logical thing in the interests of both Iraq and Britain) and announce a speedy withdrawal of troops to be replaced by a real programme of support for the Iraqi people.

Although doubtless pressure from the police at the highest level was obviously vital in the decision to allow the march to go ahead, there were clearly a few officers in charge on the ground who weren’t happy.

As we went down Whitehall, they obstructed photographers trying to photograph the event quite unnecessarily – so obviously so that some of the officers actually carrying out the orders were apologising to me as they did so. And later in the day a few tempers flared and there were a few fairly random assaults on demonstrators.

It did seem an unnecessarily provocative move to bring back Inspector Terry, apparently the man responsible for much of the harassment of Brian Haw and the officer in charge at the 2006 ‘Sack Parliament’ demo last year (photographer Marc Vallée who was injured is now taking legal action against the Met, with the support of the NUJ.)

British troops remained in Iraq in a combat role until 2009, with smaller numbers there mainly involved in training until the final withdrawal in 2011. You can read more about my NUJ colleague Marc Vallée being thrown to the ground by police and his eventually reaching a settlement on the EPUK web site.

Many more pictures from the march and rally on My London Diary at
Bring All the Troops Home NOW.

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