march | >Re-PHOTO

Spice, Rain, Turkey & Cyprus – 2007

Spice, Rain, Turkey & Cyprus: Sunday 15 July 2007 was another varied day for me in London, both for events and weather. I went to Hackney for Hackney Spice, but got bored and went to the South Bank where there was a tremendous thunderstorm. When the rain eased off I photographed some of the performers in a Turkish festival in Bernie Spain Gardens before crossing the river to the Embankment to photograph a protest by Greek Cypriots over the Turkish occupation of North Cyprus.

Hackney Spice

Hackney Town Hall

Spice, Rain, Turkey & Cyprus - 2007 — *I think these dancers came from South London, but some other performers were local.*

Hackney Spice was an event outside the town hall in Hackney, next to the Hackney Empire. Perhaps I was there too early, but it appeared to be getting off to a rather slow start, and I soon lost interest and caught a bus.

Hackney Spice

Thames & Rain

Southbank, Southwark

As I arrived at Coin Street, there were a few drops of rain, and apart from eating and drinking (high-priced cheap beer) not a lot was happening. I walked around and then took a walk along the embankment, sheltering under a tree as the rain came on a little harder.

Then came the thunderstorm, with perhaps the most tremendous downpour I’ve ever seen, pouring down through the leaves as if I was in the open. Even my umbrella didn’t really keep me dry, although it offered some protection. As the rain came, the view disappeared, first the distant view along the river, then the bridge, then I could no longer see the river itself, and trees only perhaps 25 metres away merged into whiteness.

There wasn’t a great deal to photograph, and I was more concerned about keeping my cameras dry – fortunately the raincoat built into my Lowe-pro camera bag was reasonably effective. As the storm eased slightly and visibility returned, still holding up my umbrella, I took a few pictures, but it was still raining too hard to move much.

A couple more pictures

Turkish Festival

Bernie Spain Gardens, Lambeth

Then the storm was over, and there were belly dancers on the stage. I don’t think I appreciate the finer points of this art (and appreciate quantity rather more than quality – after all you can only shake what you have), but I took a few pictures but rather more of the folk dancers that followed, their dances clearly linked to village life and agriculture.

Turkish Festival

National Federation of Cypriots – Turks out of Cyprus

March & Rally, Westminster

But I’d really come to photograph something connected with a rather different Turkish activity, the continued occupation of part of Cyprus by the Turkish army. I grew up hearing about the war in Cyprus, older brothers of friends were there fighting as a part of their compulsory national military service, and Don McCullin took some of his first and most striking images of war.

*The front of the march – the red area is the Northern Cyprus, occupied by Turks*

War and partition left both Greek and Turkish Cypriots with justifiable grievances – there were atrocities on both sides, and time seems to have done little to heal. While I sympathise with the Greeks who still mourn their lost sons, often disappeared without trace, I also find it hard to understand why the EU went ahead with recognition of Cyprus after the Greek Cypriots voted down the UN attempts to reunite the country. Greek and Turkish Cypriots live together with few problems in London – and it is surely time they did so in Cyprus too.

The National Federation of Cypriots march and rally called for Turkish troops and settlers who have come since the Turkish occupation in 1974 to leave Cyprus.

I’d expected the march to start late, and was surprised to see it had already begun as I came across Hungerford Bridge. It was a larger event than the similar rally I’d photographed a couple of years previously and attracted more photographers.

The organisers for some reason didn’t want photographers to cover the rally, moving us out of the area in front of the platform. It seems odd to say the least to organise a public event and then not provide proper facilities for press coverage.

Greek Cypriots call for Turkish Troops Out

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Against Factory Farming – 2002

National March and Rally, London

Against Factory Farming: On 13 July 2002 UK vegan charity Viva! (founded in 1994 as Vegetarians’ International Voice for Animals) had organised a march and rally in London and I went to photograph it using both black and white and colour negative film.

*I think it works better in black and white*

Viva describes itself as “the UK’s leading vegan campaigning charity, specialising in undercover investigations and high-profile animal campaigns” so perhaps I should not have been surprised to find that this turned out to be more of a protest against all ways we make use of animals rather than just opposing factory farming and the cruelty involved.

I am not a vegan, nor a vegetarian, though I eat a good deal of vegetarian food and rather less meat then the average UK resident, though probably more fish than most and certainly my share of diary. But I’d like to see it all produced without cruelty and know that not all of it is.

Relatives of mine were sheep farmers and I know they looked after their animals well. They loved animals and they represented a large investment both financially and in long hours of care, particularly in the lambing season. They really did look after their animals, including the few cows they kept and gees and chickens as well. And at times they had to protect them against other animals – nature is certainly not vegan and I’ve seen the total bloodshed when a fox gets into a chicken run.

We need animals in various ways, and many of them only exist because they are still farmed – and their species only developed as they are now because they were domesticated and farmed. They only live their lives because we are going to eat them or drink their milk (and they now produce many times the amount their own calves could drink) or eat their eggs. They need us to survive as a species even though we slaughter them.

I think being vegan is a good thing and probably reduces your footprint on earth particularly in terms of carbon dioxide production. But if everyone became vegan it would be a disaster, particularly for those animals we farm and love.

I didn’t write much about the protest in 2002 – here it is on full (but appropriately capitalised.)

“Cruelty in farming is something we can all oppose, even if we are not veggies. Although the Viva! event was meant to unite different groups, there was too much fanaticism around for that to really work. Few of the speakers seemed to be trying to approach the issues rationally, and they were simply whipping up the converted.”

But I did publish quite a few pictures on My London Diary (and some elsewhere.) Along with a page of half a dozen black and white images I also posted a page with 25 large colour thumbnails, each linked to a larger image. Click on any one of these and their are arrows above the image to go back and forward in a slide show of the 25 images.

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Cyprus Property, a Windmill and a Regatta – 2006

Cyprus Property, a Windmill and a Regatta: On Sunday July 9th 2006, after photographing a protest over property disputes in Cyprus I went to the Brixton Windmill Festival and then on to Kingston Regatta and walked to Hampton Court. I wrote at some length on My London Diary and you can read it below with more normal capitalisation and the odd other correction.

Cyprus Property March

Park Lane

Cyprus Property, a Windmill and a Regatta - 2006

Turkish and Greek Cypriots lived together on Cyprus for many years.Three years after the island became independent in 1960, fighting started and the Turkish Cypriots were thrown out of their official positions. There were many killed in the fighting in the following years, and in 1974 both Greek and Turkish troops became involved.

Since then the island has been effectively divided into two, with the Turkish Cypriots in Northern Cyprus. Many Turkish and Greek Cypriots had to leave their homes and move to the other side of the de facto border, taking over properties vacated by those moving in the opposite direction.

Recently the situation has become more complex, with Cyprus being admitted to the EU in 2004, despite its split status. The UN had set up a re-unification plan that was approved by the Turkish population, but rejected by the Greeks. Entry to the EU has however meant that Greek property claims are now being taken up in Southern Cyprus and can then be enforced in other EU countries, including the UK.

One such case concerns the Orams, an English couple who bought land and built a villa on it in Northern Cyprus. They bought the land from a Turkish Cypriot who had received it in exchange for property he had to leave in southern Cyprus in 1974. The land had belonged to a Greek Cypriot who took the matter to a court in southern Cyprus recently, obtaining an order against them that they should demolish the house and pay damages (which the Orams are appealing against.) Although the judgement cannot be enforced in northern Cyprus, as this is still under Turkish control, the lawyers are trying to enforce it in the UK courts against the UK assets of the Orams.

Settlement of the property issues requires Greek and Turkish Cypriots to come together produce a plan for peace in the divided country. It would then be possible for a suitable property commission – such as that already set up under the advice of the EU in northern Cyprus – to work through all the cases.

The marchers were asking for the support of the British government in refusing to accept the decision of the Cyprus court on ‘public policy’ grounds, and to make further attempts to establish a proper peace plan that would allow proper resolution of property and other disputes in the island.

[Following a series cases with appeals to the the High Court, the European Court of Justice, and back to the UK Appeal Court, the Orams lost their case and apparently abandoned their property in Cyprus in 2010. Property issues in Cyprus remain in a mess but are reported to be moving very slowly towards an amnesty in 2026.]

More pictures on My London Diary.

Brixton Windmill Festival, 2006

Blenheim Gardens, Brixton

The Brixton Windmill Festival wasn’t music at the well-known pub, but at the real windmill 50 yards further on, built by a Mr Ashby many years ago to take advantage of its hilltop site to get the energy to grind his corn.

*A local choir sang with spirit performing Amazing Grace as a tribute to those killed and injured on in the London Bombings of 7 July 2005*

When I first visited around 30 years ago it had been recently restored by the GLC and I climbed up the rather rickety ladder holding the small occupant of the pushchair I had taken with me for a view of the surroundings. Since then it has been vandalised and partly restored, and though it’s still an impressive site, you are only allowed upstairs on very special occasions (and probably after signing a a form in triplicate saying you take your life entirely into your own hands.)

But it is still a useful site, a green patch in which to sit or stroll, some swings for kids, a cup of tea, and a reminder of past ages. There was some music at the festival, a group of local singers while I was there, as well as stalls from a number of local organisations, including the local history society, the credit union and also the police and others. I hope a few more people came after I left.

More pictures

Kingston Regatta and Hampton Court

Kingston-upon-Thames

It was a pleasant afternoon for a walk by the Thames, and although the shopping streets of the town were hot and bothered as usual, once out on the bridge it was a different world. the river itself was rather busier than usual, with over half its width buoyed off for the regatta, with pairs and trios of boats being stroked lustily downstream chased by umpires in powered catamarans.

I walked past the regatta enclosure and stood a few minutes watching by the bank before continuing along the riverside path. The start and marshalling area were a little more interesting as the officials tried to sort out the various teams, heats and finals. There were quite a few grammar, not to mention Eton and a few other posh schools, but not a single comprehensive or secondary mod while I was in earshot.

It turned out to be a rather longer walk to Hampton Court than I’d imagined (for once I’d not bothered with a map) and I was tired [and late] when I got to the river exit from the flower show.

There were a few people carrying rather straggly looking plants and a couple of photographers already lying in wait to photograph them, but I couldn’t really work up a great deal of interest. so I walked on and caught the bus home.

[I’d been keen to go to Kingston as I was hoping to get more local pictures for the show ‘Another London’ with Mike Seaborne and Paul Baldesare which was to be in Kingston Museum at the start of 2007. You can still see all the pictures by all three of us on-line at the Another London web site, including one from the Regatta.]

More pictures on My London Diary

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NHS at 70 – Save St Helier Hospital – 2018

NHS at 70 – Save St Helier Hospital: On Saturday 7th July 2018 I went with campaigners from Keep Our St Helier Hospital on what seemed a long hot march from Sutton to a rally in front of St Helier Hospital.

The Epsom and St Helier Trust planned to close A&E, Maternity, Paediatrics, Emergency Medicine and Surgery, Intensive Care, Coronary Care and the Cancer Centre at one or both Epsom or St Helier Hospital and sell off much of the sites.

The march celebrated the 70th anniversary of the founding of our National Health Service and marchers signed a giant birthday card at the start of the march in a park in the centre of Sutton and many had had posters and placards for the 70th birthday of the NHS.

But there were also plenty of placards calling for the local hospitals – St Helier, Queen Mary’s and Epsom to remain open and offering a full range of services.

There was a great deal of support shown for the march as it went through the long Sutton High Street, with many shoppers stopping to applaud, and a few joining in the march, at least for a short distance.

The march stopped at several places in the High Street for short speeches about the plans and the need to oppose them.

Many on the street seemed surprised to learn their local hospitals were under threat. The death of so many local newspapers – and few of those left are still truly local, publishing largely material unconnected with their local areas, owned by a couple of large national companies – has led to a real lack of reporting of local issues, and many people are now ill-informed on them.

The march continued through the huge 1930s estates in the area until finally we were in sight of St Helier Hospital.

It was a hot day and there was little shade on the route and although it was only around a two mile walk it felt much more.

As we arrived for a rally on the large grass open space in front of the hospital we were greeted by others who had come there, including the National Health Singers who were waiting to sing for us in front of a tent with the message ‘The Clock Is Ticking For Your Hospital’

There were free buns to celebrate NHS 70 and of course speeches by campaigners and people staged a die-in to represent the deaths that would result from the closure of the hospital,

Closure of vital services here or at Epson would leave around half a million south Londoners with much poorer access to NHS services. As I noted, “People would have to travel longer distances through increasingly congested roads to reach full hospital services at St Georges Tooting and elsewhere, a journey which might take 20 minutes when traffic was light but much longer when roads were congested; even in ambulances there would be more dead on arrival or whose condition had seriously deteriorated.”

The plans are a part of a long-term campaign by successive governments to reduce NHS spending and to hand over much of the NHS to private health providers, which is continuing under the current Labour government, many of whose members receive considerable funding from such companies. In February 2026 the BMJ published an article which included the estimate from the Good Law Foundation that then Health Secreatry Wes Streeting “had accepted a total of £372,000 of donations from donors linked to private health between 2015 and 2025.“

Despite their long campaign, more services are being removed or under threat of removal from both hospitals as a part of a plan to reduce the number of major acute hospitals in the country. In 2020 the trust was still planning to sell off around two thirds of the current St Helier site, including the Queen Marys Childrens Hospital, Furguson House, the Maternity Unit, Womens’ Health, the renal unit, the teaching block and the large car park.

This year the trust was awarded £57m to improve its emergency ward and is to “temporarily relocate the women’s health block at St Helier” but there are fears locally that maternity services will not return to the hospital.

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London Pride 2004

London Pride: I think the Pride March on Saturday 3rd July 2004 was around the 12th Pride I had photographed and I was certainly beginning to feel it had lost the edge it had in the earlier years. It’s now some years since I bothered to apply for accreditation to cover the annual event, and didn’t bother to apply for one of the armbands my union were offering. It’s perhaps ten years since I last went.

I used to enjoy photographing the annual event, and you can see many of my pictures from those years on the Internet Archive and in the Café Royal Books publication ‘Pride Not Profit – London 1993–2000‘. I had a small show of some of the work at the Museum of London and a larger selection was projected as part of the Museum’s travelling show ‘Queer is Here‘ which began with a Museum showing in 2006. You can see the full set from this show online at Ten Years of Pride.

For the last few years I’ve intended to go to Soho to cover the buzz there after the march, but somehow I’ve always found other things to do. But perhaps I’ll be there tomorrow, if only to meet up with some old friends and have a drink together.

Anyway, here is what I wrote back in 2004 and some of the pictures I took on the march from Hyde Park. For some reason I can’t now remember I left the march to go to Paternoster Square close to St Paul’s Cathedral and took a few pictures of the buildings there before returning to the Pride Festival in Trafalgar Square.

London Pride

Pride is certainly not what it used to be. It’s lost the edge which came from protest and is now simply a parade, recognised by Ken [Livingstone, Mayor of London] and the police.

Good time people out for a good time rather than a crusade for a cause, although there were still a few banners on display against remaining areas of discrimination.

This years event also seemed rather small, considerably less than the press estimates before the event, although quite a few more came to the rally in Trafalgar Square.

I don’t know how long they stayed, as the speeches were platitudinous beyond belief. Ken welcomed us to his square in one of the better attempts, and generally received an enthusiastic response, although there were quite a few voices of dissent and more who were taking very little interest.

Here are a few pictures here which I didn’t upload in 2004:

There are also more online on My London Diary, beginning here.

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Heathrow, Pendragon & Brexit – 2018

Heathrow, Pendragon & Brexit: On Saturday 23 June 2018 I went to Parliament Square where campaigners against the expansion of Heathrow Airport were holding a rally. While there I also saw a small group of the right-wing fringe activist, the Arthur Pendragons, try without success to deliver letters to Parliament. Later I met a march of around a hundred thousand who had marched to a rally which more than filled Parliament Square calling for a People’s vote before we finally left Europe.

Vote No to Disastrous Heathrow Expansion

*‘Boris’ looks worried by the 3rd runway – and he invented a trip to Afghanistan to avoid the vote*

This protest took place on the Saturday before Parliament was to vote on the expansion of Heathrow on Monday. Prime Minister Boris Johnson who when London Mayor had promised he would lie down in front of the bulldozers to stop the development had conveniently arranged to be out of the country for the vote.

The building of a new runway and associated works would cause years of disruption and even when completed would significantly increase traffic congestion and increased pollution across a wide area around Heathrow as well as under the flight path in a city with already dangerous and often illegal levels of pollution.

*Some of those taking part had been on hunger strike for 14 days outside the Labour Party HQ*

More importantly it would add to the the already growing threat of irreversible climate breakdown that could threaten the future of human life on the earth.

*They stated a vote for the third runway is ‘Voting for Climate Genocide’*

The estimates for the contribution to jobs and the economy by a third runway made by Heathrow and the government were wildly optimistic and after it was completed increased automation and the use of AI were likely to lead to a decline in local jobs.

As I’ve often pointed out, “Almost any other development likely in the area blighted by the expansion would provide more local jobs, and closing Heathrow altogether for a new town development would provide much greater opportunities.“

*It seemed inevitable that the government will win the vote – but still unlikely the runway will be built*

Unsurprisingly Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of expansion on Monday 25 June 2018, though the realities of the situation means that it has not happened yet, and many think it unlikely to ever do so.

Many more pictures on My London Diary at Vote No to Disastrous Heathrow Expansion.

White Pendragons ‘Independence Day’ letters refused

Parliament Square

*Shaun Morris of the Arthur Pendragons argues with police who will not accept their letters*

The Arthur Pendragons take their name from the Anglo-Saxon King Arthur (who modern historians doubt ever existed) and their ideas from a misunderstanding of English Common Law, and in particular of the Magna Carta.

They gained a little publicity when they made an unsuccessful attempt at a ‘citizen’s arrest’ on London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan, claiming he should not be Mayor “because he is a Muslim“. Despite this they claim they are open welcome people of all races and religions including the settled immigrant communities. Some of the group were previous supports of racist far-right organisations but they emphasise a non-violent orientation, with their slogan: “No Loss, No Harm, No Injury.”

*A woman pushes her letter through the fence around the Houses of Parliament*

Their letters stated that they withdrew their support for parliament’s underhand dealings with the EU and demanded the return of all sovereign powers to the individuals and the British people, as well as an end to taxation and other orders and demands. Police at the gates refused to take these letters and in the end they simply pushed them through the railings.

White Pendragon letters refused

Many Thousands March for a People’s Vote

*Parliament Square was full and many watched the rally on a giant screen in Whitehall*

This was one of London’s larger marches and filled Parliament Square for a rally with an overflow in Whitehall while others were reported to still be waiting to leave Pall Mall.

Many of those on the march had posters or placards saying they had been lied to when they voted for Brexit in 2016, though others had voted remain.

*Who needs Airbus when you’ve got Spitfire?’*

*Caroline Lucas among those holding the main banner*

But in 2018 opinion polls suggested than almost two thirds of the British people backed having a final vote on Brexit now that we had a better idea of what it would actually mean.

And last Saturday, 20th June 2026, ten years after the Brexit referendum some of the same people were marching on the streets of London again, calling for us to rejoin Europe. It was a smaller march than in 2018 but the case for Britain moving back closer to Europe even if not actually rejoining has become very much stronger now years after we have actually left and we see its results. You can see some of my pictures from the 2026 march on Facebook.

More from 2018 on My London Diary at Many Thousands March for a People’s Vote.

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End Austerity Now & Class War – 2015

End Austerity Now & Class War: On Saturday 20th June 2015 I sent to photograph the march organised by the People’s Assembly Against Austerity from the Bank of England to Parliament Square. Class War came to protest calling for direct action rather than marches which changed nothing and after photographing them in the City I went with them to Downing Street – and they paused for a brief protest at the Savoy on the way.

End Austerity Now at Bank

Bank

Large crowds gathered around the Bank of England for the start of a massive march against austerity organised by the People’s Assembly Against Austerity and supported by many groups including CND, the Green Party, People’s March for the NHS, Global Women’s Strike, Basic Income, Revolutionary Communist Group, Clapton Ultras and many other groups and individuals from around the country.

So many were being affected by the cuts which had forced down incomes, cut benefits and the welfare state, cut education, destroyed youth services, made massive cuts to the NHS and public services while supporting the bankers whose actions had led to the crisis.

The programme of austerity introduced by the coalition government and continued under the Tories had seriously harmed the country and slowed its recovery from the financial crisis and seemed to be a punishment for the crimes of others, which had been made possible by the changes to the banking system introduced under Thatcher in 1986.

As usual estimates of the number of marchers varied hugely, with the organisers claiming a quarter of a million, while the BBC contented itself with ‘”thousands”. From the time it took and the density of the crowds I think it was at least a hundred thousand. Parliament Square was well filled with others still arriving, but like many others I went home rather than listen to the speeches.

More pictures of the marchers at End Austerity Now at Bank and in Class War and End Austerity Now.

Class War at End Austerity Now

Queen Victoria St

Class War had come to the protest to call for end of A to B marches to rallies and call for direct action. They succeeded in diverting several hundred of the marchers to make their way to protest at a squatted pub near the Elephant which Foxtons want to open as an estate agents.

Class War had brought several banners including the ‘Political Leaders’, a new version of that seized by police at a ‘Poor Doors’ protest, the ‘Lucy Parsons banner with its quote “We must devastate the avenues where the wealthy live” and ‘We have found new homes for the rich‘, with its rows of crosses on graves extending into the distance which police were then still pressing charges against Lisa McKenzie over.

Lisa was there along with the others including Adam Clifford who stood for Class War in the Westminster constituency, today wearing a top with fake exposed breasts and holding a fairly lifelike looking baby. As well as those above the protest others protested on the side of the street below.

Many marchers raised fists and shouted in solidarity with Class War as they passed, though some shook their heads, while others tried to ignore them. This wasn’t easy as they made a fair amount of noise and let off several smoke flares.

Around 30 police gathered around them at one point and it looked very much if they were going into action, but after a discussion between several senior officers on the scene, most rapidly walked away.

I stayed in the area either with them above the march or down below on the densely crowded wide street for around an hour, making many pictures both of Class War and the marchers.

*They sit in the pub and police wait for them outside*

When the end of the march appeared to reach them they joined in for a couple of hundred yards then peeled off to go to the Olde London pub on Ludgate Hill

More pictures at Class War and End Austerity Now.

Class War at the Savoy

Strand

*Class War insist on the right to protest outside the Savoy*

After a rest in the pub Class War walked down towards Westminster with their police escort to carry out more protests.

Approaching the Savoy Hotel some broke out into a run to get ahead of their escorts but found that there were more police already waiting there.

But they unrolled their banners again and briefly blocked the entrance with ‘New Homes for the Rich’ and ‘Lucy Parsons’ banners. After minor scuffles and arguments with police they marched on.

More pictures at Class War at the Savoy.

Class War in Whitehall

Whitehall

*A woman talks to Adam Clifford of Class War holding a baby and a banner outside the gates of Downing St*

Class War continued their protests in Whitehall, displaying their banners, setting off flares and dancing with others to a sound system which joined them briefly.

They then moved off towards Downing Street where they posed for photographs with all three banners – and threw a flare over the gate.

Their protest continued there with short speeches and more dancing. People were still coming down the street to join the People’s Assembly Against Austerity protest in Parliament Square and some stopped briefly to join in.

Eventually Class War decided it was time to roll up the banners and leave before police intervened – and it was time to go to the pub again. But for me it was time to go home.

Many more pictures on My London Diary: Class War in Whitehall.

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Arms Dealers, Dirty Oil and Pay – 2013

Arms Dealers, Dirty Oil and Pay: On Thursday 13th Jun 2013 a protest in the week before the G8 summit in Ireland targeted the offices of arms manufacturers in London. Unlike the previous day the protesters were not harassed and attacked by police and the protest remained peaceful.

Canadian prime minster Stephen Harper had been invited to address Parliament and there was a noisy protest against him over his support of the environmentally disastrous Canadian tar sands as well as a smaller group of Canadian Foreign Service Workers demanding equal pay with other Canadian government employees.

I also briefly photographed the continuing daily vigil calling for the release of Shaker Aamer from Guantanamo which I had written about earlier.

G8 Protest Against Arms Dealers

West End

Anti-G8 protesters continued their protests with a tour of the offices of companies making armaments in Central London. Today their peaceful protest, unlike yesterday’s, was not attacked by police, and there were no arrests.

As well as a group of protesters in black robes with ghost or skull masks and carrying mock scythes and a black banner with the message ‘Think we’re SCARY? You’ll find ‘ARMS DEALERS INSIDE‘, there were others calling attention to UK based arms companies including BAE and EDO and the huge DSEi arms fair held in London’s Docklands.

Some changed into white plastic overalls suitable for a ‘weapons inspection’ as the protest began outside the offices of UK’s largest arms manufacturer BAE in Carlton Gardens. BAE is the third largest arms company in the world and notable for several corruption cases – and they have been fined £48.7m by the US government for braking their military export laws. Speeches here gave brief details about their immoral and sometimes illegal activities.

The protest moved on to give similar performances outside the offices of other arms companies:

Thales, the world’s 11 largest arms company with a wide range of surveillance equipment, drones, armoured vehicles, missiles and more.

Lockheed Martin UK – the British arm of the world’s largest arms producer, making fighters, bombs, nuclear weapons and involved with the CIA and FBI.

Northrop Grumman UK, one of the world’s largest defence contractors and the largest builder of naval vessels

missile developer MBDA

QinetiQ, a major defence contractor which manufactures drones and armed robots used in Afghanistan and Iraq.

They also protested outside Charing Cross Police Station where those arrested at the previous day’s J11 Carnival against Capitalism had been taken.

More on My London Diary at G8 Protest Against Arms Dealers.

Harper, we don’t want your dirty oil!

Parliament Square

Canadian PM Stephen Harper was invited to address the UK Parliament as he had a special relationship with UK PM David Cameron, both trying with the support of British Oil companies such as Shell and BP to force the EU to accept oil from the Albertan tar sands. And this protest took place as he spoke.

Canadian campaigners say Harper “has spent the last few years promoting the destructive tar sands industry, eroding Indigenous rights, weakening environmental regulations, muzzling scientists, and helping keep the world fixed on a collision course with runaway climate change by pulling out of the Kyoto Protocol.” They say his “government is currently mired in scandal and sleaze” and ask: “What was the UK thinking in extending this invitation?”

The protest was supported by all the leading environmental groups in the UK, and around a hundred protesters came to chanted in protest as this ‘climate criminal, addressed the UK Parliament shouting slogans including “Don’t say no thank you! Say No Tar!” and “Stephen Harper off our soil; We don’t want your dirty oil!”

More at Harper, we don’t want your dirty oil!

Canadian Foreign Service Protest

Abingdon Street

A few yards down the road from Parliament Square a much smaller group of protesters had come to greet the Canadian Prime Minister, mainly dressed in suits.

The Professional Association of Foreign Service Workers representing men and women working for the Canadian Government here and around the world had come to demand demanding equal pay for equal work. They say other Canadian government employees doing the exact same jobs as them are paid up to $14,000 a year more.

Canadian Foreign Service Protest

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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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End Child Detention, Gaza Flotilla Atrocity – 2010

End Child Detention, Gaza Flotilla Atrocity: I covered two protests on Saturday 5th June 2010, a carnival against the holding of children in immigration detention centres, and rallies and a march following the killing by Israel of on 31st May of peace protesters who were on a flotilla attempting to break the illegal blockade of Gaza, carrying humanitarian aid and construction materials. As last month, the ships were illegally intercepted in international waters, A UNHRC report on the incident concluded Israel acted with “an unacceptable level of brutality“. Nine protesters were killed and 30 seriously injured, with another dying later from his wounds.

Gaza Flotilla Atrocity Protest

Whitehall – Israeli Embassy

End Child Detention, Gaza Flotilla Atrocity - 2010

Around 20,000 people flooded Whitehall for a rally at Downing Street before marching to protest close to the Israeli Embassy following the murder days earlier of peace protesters by Israeli forces. They called for international action against Israel and an end to the illegal blockade.

The protest called by Stop the War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, British Muslim Initiative, CND, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Viva Palestina and Palestinian Forum of Britain had the official support of the trade union movement.

There were speeches from politicians, activists and flotilla survivors both in Whitehall and after the march on Kensington High Street – and I name many and posted their pictures on My London Diary.

Although independent media reports had made clear that some of those killed had been shot multiple times in the head at close range in what appeared to be more or less random executions, the BBC had been broadcasting again and again the same lies from the same Israeli apologist defending their killings.

On the evening news they did mention this protest but reported that only 2,000 people took part, when clearly the actual number was at least five or ten times as many. As I commented “This is not an isolated error – there is a consistent policy by the BBC to play down the scale of protest.”

We have seen this playing down of pro-Palestine protests in particular in recent years, as well as a continuing and academically well-documented pro-Israel bias in their overall reporting. At least now there are now some interviewers who do try to question the Israeli spokespeople despite the overall editorial imbalance – but also allow them to keep repeating their lies.

More at Gaza Flotilla Atrocity Protest.

Release Carnival – End Child Detention

Torrington Square

*Albanian children wait their turn to perform*

SOAS Detainee Support Group had organised the ‘Release Carnival’ which called for an end to the practice of holding families and children in immigration detention centres.

The Children’s Commissioner for England, Sir Al Aynsley-Green had stated “Detention is harmful to children and therefore never likely to be in their best interests” and he argued “that detention of children for immigration control should cease“.

Although the UK Border’s Agency claimed “treating children with care and compassion is a priority for the UK Border Agency. Whenever we take decisions involving children their welfare comes first” the reality was very different, as you can read in many publications including the highly detailed report ‘State Sponsored Cruelty‘.

Detention centres are run by private contractors such as Serco and G4 whose main concern is profit, with little or no proper monitoring. Official inspections as well as many media investigations have made clear the real lack of proper care and maltreatment of detainees.

More at Release Carnival – End Child Detention.

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