St Paul’s, Lord Mayor’s Show, Somalia, Egypt & Abortion: Occupy London were still encamped at St Paul’s Cathedral on the day of the annual Lord Mayor’s Show which made the day a little more interesting than usual. But also on Saturday 12th November 2011 I visited the cathedral, went with Occupy to protest against UK arms supplies to the Egyptian Army and covered a protest about the continuing war in Somalia and a ‘500 crosses for Life’ anti-abortion procession.
The Lord Mayor’s Show & Occupy
After blessing the Lord Mayor, St Paul’s Canon in Residence Rt Revd Michael Colclough came at their request and blessed Occupy LSX in front of St Paul’s Cathedral. Later the camp hosted a ‘Not the Lord Mayors Show‘ festival of entertainment.
Occupy had set up a polling booth close to the route to point out the uniquely undemocratic nature of the City of London, where ordinary voters are outnumbered 4 to 1 by the votes of corporations which results in it promoting “a radical bankers’ agenda at odds with the interests and democratic desire of the British people.”
Occupy also received many more visitors than usual because of the crowds who had come up for the procession and after the official event had ended put on their own ‘NOT The Lord Mayor’s Show’, “a festival for the people, which aims to place the celebratory atmosphere of the traditional event in a non-hierarchical and community-focused environment.”
On the web site a supporter stated “We will not have golden carriages, we will not have military costumes, we will not have a marching band, but we are going to enjoy ourselves. This is about valuing people and community, rather than privileging the undemocratically elected Lord Mayor of the City of London.”
Before I left there was a show with comedians, spoken word artists and singers in a show compèred by stand-up comedian Andy Zaltzman. Later there was to be a special general meeting with speakers including John McDonnell MP. And as it was also Remembrance weekend, in the evening the camp was hosting the UK première of ‘The Welcome’, an award-winning US documentary film about a project for dealing with post-traumatic stress involving ex-soldiers and their family members.
I took some time away from Occupy to photograph the rather strange mix of floats and walking groups that make up the Lord Mayor’s Show.
There were the various groups from London’s guilds – including the Launderers in the picture, though the only laundering that goes on in London these days is of money with London being the world capital for making dirty money seem respectable.
And floats for a wide range of organisations – and there were some which it was rather harder to know quite what they represented with more carnival costumes.
Together with many of those at OccupyLSX who were also watching, I found the marching servicemen, military vehicles and weapons and military bands that are a major element of it disturbing. Like much of the celebration they look back to when Britain ruled the world.
The City of London is of course an anachronism, though now one that hides the ruthless pursuit of profit by any means it can get away with, including the now clearly immoral support of highly polluting industries such as fossil fuels which now threaten the future of many species on Earth including our own.
Entry to St Paul’s Cathedral except to attend services normally costs what they describe as a “small fee”, now £25 per adult, though only £14.50 in 2011. But entry is free on the day of the Lord Mayor’s show (though slightly restricted) and I took advantage of this to go the ‘Stone Gallery’ around the bottom of the dome where photography was allowed.
And I took full advantage of this, making rather a lot of pictures in every available direction, a few of which I’ve put online.
International Day to Defend the Egyptian Revolution
The Egyptian Revolution had begun with high hopes as a part of the Arab Spring and toppled the Mubarek regime, but since then things had not gone well for the coutry, with the army taking charge.
Since then there had been over 2000 trials in military courts, without the ability to call witnesses or access to lawyers in a programme of repression against any opposition. Many have been sentenced to death, and torture remains widespread. Many of those imprisoned are underage and women have been subjected to rapes and sexual assault.
The UK government supported the Egyptian military and UK arms manufacturers supply the army and police there with the weapons needed to maintain their repression.
A group of protesters from OccupyLSX as well as some Egyptians and Sam Weinstein of the US Utility Workers Union left for a ‘march of shame’ to the offices of 3 arms dealers, Qinetiq, BAE and Rolls Royce, who had gone to Egypt with Prime Minister David Cameron in February 2011 to sell arms to the Egyptian army.
The protesters condemned the violence against the people of Egypt and called on the UK government to withhold support to Egypt and stop arms sales until a civilian government dedicated to freedom and civil rights is in power in Egypt.
I left them at Ludgate Circus on their way to the offices.
Somalis Protest Obama’s War – Old Palace Yard, Westminster
I paid a brief visit to Old Palace Yard opposite the House of Lords where a protest had been announces against the US-backed proxy war by Ethiopia against Somalia.
But when I arrived at the time the protest was supposed to start I found only three men and a boy there, with a number of placards. The men assured me more would arrive later, and I did return two hours later but found the place deserted. I think by then the protesters might have left to protest at the Ethiopian embassy in Kensington rather than outside an empty Parliament.
But my return to Westminster was not fruitless as I came across another protest, with several hundred people carrying white crosses in an anti-abortion ‘500 crosses for Life’ prayer procession.
This had started at Westminster Cathedral and when I met it was leaving Old Palace Yard and walking towards its end at Westminster Abbey.
I went with them in the fading light around 4.30pm and took some pictures. As I wrote back in 2011, “I don’t share the views of the Catholic Church on abortion and find the use of the term ‘pro-life’ by those opposed to abortion to describe themselves offensive. It’s an area where we need clear and unpredjudiced thinking and where all – whatever their view on abortion – are concerned with life and the quality of life.”
A speaker at the rally gave thanks for the activities of those in Germany who were protesting outside abortion clinics. I’m pleased by the recent announcement that these activities are now to be severely restricted in England and Wales with safe access zones.
In 2011 I commented “isn’t harassing women who go to clinics at what is almost certainly for them a very stressful time morally offensive, a demonstration of an un-Christian lack of love as well as a statement of lack of faith in the power of prayer?”
Inequality, Democracy Camp & the Blessed Sacrament – On Saturday 18th October 2014 over 80,000 people marched in London to call for workers to share in the economic recovery which has seen a great increase in wages of chief executives while workers have lost out. Later I went to Parliament Square where the Democracy Camp finally took over the area. When police left, I left to photograph a Catholic religious procession.
Britain Needs A Pay Rise – Embankment
I walked along the Embankment a couple of hours before the march was due to start and already it was beginning to fill up with marchers, and I returned later from photographing Democracy Camp protesters in Parliament Square just in time to catch the end of a photocall with TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady in front of a bus covered with a green banner with the message ‘Britain Needs a Pay Rise’ and people holding large white numbers 1,7 and 5.
The gap between rich and poor is widening in the UK, with company chief executives in 2014 getting 175 times the pay of the average worker. Wealth is also hugely unequally divided, with the “the richest 50 families in the UK held more wealth than half of the UK population” by 2023. Only 8 of the 37 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries are now less equal than the UK.
Eventually the march set off, and after photographing the start of the march I stayed in place to photograph the rest of the march as it came past me.
Matt Wrack, FBU
“At the front were the major unions, the health workers and the teachers, the firefighters and more, a reminder of how much we still depend on unionised workers despite the largely successful attacks by Thatcher and later governments which have almost eliminated the unions in many areas.”
“Further back the marchers were more varied, and I met rather more people I knew, including those with CND, Focus E15, Occupy London and other radical movements.”
I kept taking pictures as people came past me for around an hour and a quarter, when people were still coming past but it was close to the end. Rather than continue with them to Hyde Park where the final rally would be starting I considered taking the Underground – it would probably be over before those marchers arrived. But I decided I had enough pictures of the event and went instead to Parliament Square to see what was happening at the Democracy Camp.
Democracy Camp Takes the Square – Parliament Square
When I arrived the tense standoff between police and protesters around the edges of the grassed area was continuing. Many of the protesters had temporarily left the square to join in with the TUC march but were beginning to arrive back.
One group “from UK Uncut came into the square dancing to the sound of a music centre on a shopping trolley. As they danced on the pavement in front of the statue of Churchill, Westminster Council officials prompted police into action and together with one of the Heritage Wardens the police moved to attempt to seize the sound system.”
“Democracy campers linked arms to make it difficult for the warden and police to reach the system” but eventually the group were surrounded and “Martin Tuohy showed his ID as Senior Westminster Warden at Westminster City Council and together with another employee grabbed the system with police looking on.”
After some tense argument the UK Uncut group were allowed to leave the square along with their sound equipment with the warning that unless they took it away from Parliament Square it would be taken from them.
More people arrived from the TUC march, where some had carried “two large wood and fabric towers, one with the words POWER and OCCUPY and the other the word DEMOCRACY. Together with other protesters they ran onto the grass square and raised the towers“
Others joined them including some carrying a long ‘Real Democracy Now!’ banner and the rally began.
The first speaker was “Labour MP John McDonnell. Among the other speakers were Occupy’s George Barda, environmentalist Donnachadh McCarthy and Russell Brand, who after speaking posed for photographs together with many of those present. “
The sudden invasion of the grass had taken the police and Heritage Wardens by surprise, and they had been unable to do anything to prevent it. But during the rally police began “massing around the square in blocks of around 20, obviously posed in a military looking formations ready to run onto the square.” As well as perhaps 200 ordinary police, reinforcements arrived “arrived with two larger groups of blue-capped TSGs obviously spoiling for a fight.”
“Then the police suddenly started to disappear while Brand was speaking. Perhaps someone had realised that with Russell Brand talking, any attack on the protesters would have generated massive and largely negative media coverage. Much better to come back late at night and do it after the mass media had left (which they did.)”
Nothing seemed likely to happen until much later, so I left for another event.
Procession of the Blessed Sacrament – Westminster Cathedral to Southwark Cathedral
I arrived just in time to see the procession emerge from Westminster Cathedral – no photography was allowed inside.
I followed it down the road to Lambeth Bridge where they stopped for a change of dress as Auxiliary Bishop Paul Hendricks put on his robe to carry the sacrament in Southwark diocese.
I left the procession at the south end of the bridge to catch a bus back to Waterloo and make my way home.
Occupy London Begins: On Saturday 15 Oct 2011 over 2000 protesters came to St Paul’s Cathedral as a part of a world-wide ‘Occupy’ protest “Inspired by Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring, and answering to the call out made by the Spanish Plataforma ¡Democracia Real YA! in May 2011 for a Global Day Of Action” and Occupy London began.
Similar protests were taking place in “Spain, Rome, New York, Portugal, Chile, Berlin,Brussels, Zageb, and many more … inspired by the example of Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring.”
Although people from various groups were present, including the Education Activists Network, Socialist Workers Party, Anonymous, Right to Work, UK Uncut, South London Solidarity Federation and there were several well known figures present who spoke including Peter Tatchell and Julian Assange, the whole movement deliberately lacked overall organisation with all decisions being taken by General Assemblies with the slogan ‘No Leaders, No Hierarchy’.
A General Assembly on 9th October on Westminster Bridge plans the occupation
The event had actually come about from one such assembly on Sunday 9th October at the end of the ‘Block the Bridge NHS Protest‘ when a ‘General Assembly’ of several hundreds had come together at the north end of Westminster Bridge to discuss and endorse a planned occupation of the London Stock Exchange area.
In response to this the Stock Exchange obtained a High Court injunction to prevent public access to Paternoster Square, one of the increasingly large areas which appear to be public space in the city but are actually now privately owned, although previously Paternoster Row was a public street and police were present in force to enforce this injunction.
Most of the several thousand protesters were intent on an entirely peaceful protest, calling for a democratic revolution to “fight for a new political and economic system that puts people, democracy and the environment before profit.” They saw that “Our political elites have chosen to protect corporations, financial institutions and the rich at the expense of the majority.“
After a few short speeches a few hundred protesters, led by the banner of the Education Activist Network made and attempt to enter the square through Temple Bar, but police on foot and horses were waiting for them, and the relatively narrow entrance of the Bar, moved here a few years ago, was designed to be easily defended.
They then made a tour around the block containing the Stock Exchange but found the narrow passages leading to Paternoster Square heavily defended by police. When finally they found one with only a thin line of a thin line of police, the protesters hesitated for long enough for the police to bring up reinforcements. It was probably for the best as they would have immediately been easily kettled inside the square had they got in.
Eventually a General Meeting began on the steps of St Paul’s. There were a few minor scuffles when police pushed protesters around, which could probably have been avoided had police explained clearly that they only intended to clear a path to clear a path into and out of the cathedral at one end of the steps. Several people were arrested then and later.
I decided to leave, as it really seemed unlikely that anything much more would happen for some time. As I was leaving, police decided to block Ludgate Hill, but along with a group of several hundred protesters I managed to get through their line as it was forming.
The General Assembly takes a show of hands to remain at St Paul’s
Police continued to clear protesters from the steps of St Paul’s and urging people to leave the area, but many set up tents on the level area of St Paul’s Churchyard and the occupation had begun – and was to remain in place until finally removed on 28th February 2012. You can read a great deal about the occupation in the Occupy London web site which includes the various statements agreed by consensus at Occupy London General Assemblies. Unfortunately Wikipedia’s article on Occupy London is unusually poor and misleading about the events of 15th October.
Police, Public Sector & Peace Campaign – Thursday 10th May 2012 saw two rather different marches by workers taking place in London, with a large protest by police and a day of public sector strikes with trade unionists marching to a rally. I also visited the Parliament Square Peace Campaign.
Police March Against Cuts and Winsor
An estimated 20,000 police from all 43 forces in England & Wales marched through central London in protest at 20% cuts in police budget and proposed restructuring following the Winsor review. Other groups including Occupy and Right To Protest and others joined in call for justice in the policing of protest.
Police are not allowed to strike or belong to a proper trade union but can join the Police Federation, a staff association that can represent and support their interests. Although it cannot call for strike action it can organise demonstrations such as this one, attended by off-duty police and some family members.
It was an impressively large march, but rather dull as it marched past the Home Office, the Houses of Parliament and Downing St, most wearing black caps. The Police Federation had provided 16,000 black caps to represent the number of warranted officers expected to be lost over the next four years due to the cut in the police budget of 20-30%.
My pictures concentrate too much on the relatively few officers from some areas who had come with placards. Most simply marched and mainly in silence. A few carried carried small posters with the names of officers who had been unable to attend due to being at work – and there were some police who were policing the police protest, on rather better behaviour than at some other protests.
Some people also came to protest against the police, with the Space Hijackers setting up a ‘professional protest stall‘ at the side of the march offering advice on making placards and chanting. Most of the police marchers were amused by their chants such as ‘One Solution – Institution’ and some of the mock placards, although there were a few jeers.
Those Police policing the protest were less amused, and threatened the Space Hijackers with arrest unless they removed one of their placards with the well-known acronym ACAB. They also stood in front to try and hide them and other protesters including those with a ‘Defend the Right to Protest’ who were shouting slogans against police violence and over deaths in custody for which there is seldom if any justice.
Some from Occupy London had come with plastic police helmets to join in the march, saying they were not against the police but called for a force that worked for the 99% rather than the 1%, or as one long-winded placard put it, “A fully, Publicly funded, democratically accountable Police force who’s aims and objectives enshrine the right to peaceful Protest in some sort of People’s Charter!”
Others taking part on the march included Ian Puddick who got intimidated, attacked and prosecuted by City of London Terrorism Police and Counter Terrorism Directorate in an operation costing millions carried out on behalf of a giant US security corporation after he discovered his wife had been having an affair with one of her bosses. He marched with a sign ‘Police Corruption‘ and unfortunately there is still a great deal of that as well as racism in forces around the country.
Unite, PCS and UCU were holding a one day strike against public sector cuts in pensions, jobs and services. Many had been up in the early hours picketing at their workplaces long before I arrived in London, but there were still pickets in place when I visited Tate Britain and walked past the House of Commons on my way to a rally outside St Thomas’ Hospital on the opposite bank of the Thames.
I arrived late for the rally there and people were just getting ready to march to a larger rally at Methodist Central Hall.
Workers are incensed by increases in their pension contributions and plans to increase them further. They are also worried by the increasing state retirement age which also applies to their pensions. Now in 2024 it is 66 and will increase to 67 between 2026 and 2028. A further rise to 68 is planned and the date for that is likely to be brought forward – as the rise to 67 was.
As they marched, people were chanting “Sixty-eight – is TOO Late“. Pensioners also feel they are being cheated by the government’s decision to index them to the CPI inflation rather than the higher RPI inflation figures, which will mean them receiving some 15-20% less. Over 94% of Unite’s NHS members voted to reject the government’s proposals and take strike action today along with members from the Ministry of Defence and government departments as well as others from the PCS and UCU.
I left the marchers as they went into the rally at Central Hall and returned to photograph the police march and visit the peace camp in Parliament Square.
I went to talk with Barbara Tucker who was continuing the Parliament Square Peace Campaign begun by Brian Haw on the 2nd June 2001. The protest, continued by her and other supporters was about to reach a total of 4000 days of 24 hour protest in the square, with others in the group maintaining the presence on those various occasions when Brian or Barbara was arrested and held overnight.
They had then continued for almost 11 years despite constant harassment years by police, who have been pressured by politicians – as well as passing two Acts of Parliament intended to end the protest.
As I wrote in 2012:
A few hours before I arrived, police had come and spent 90 minutes “searching” the few square meters of their display in the early morning, and three days later, at 2.30am on Sunday 13 May, police and Westminster Council came and took away the two blankets that Barbara Tucker, no longer allowed to have any “structure designed solely or mainly to sleep in” by law was using to survive in the open. This was apparently one of two visits over the weekend by police and council in which they illegally removed property from the site.
Despite an increase in harassment as a great attempt was made to clean up the capital for the Olympics, the peace protest continued in the square for another year, with Barbara Tucker starting a hunger strike in January 2013. Eventually she became too ill to continue and the protest came to an end in May 2013.
Baltimore to Brixton – Black Lives Matter! The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter was first used on Twitter on 12th July 2013 but only became common in 2014 after the killings of Eric Garner, Michael Brown and Tamir Rice in 2014, reaching a peak when it was announced nobody wold be prosecuted over the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson. According to a list published by Twitter on the tenth anniversary of the platform in 2016 #BlackLivesMatter was the third most used hashtag in those ten years, beaten by #Ferguson at number one and #LoveWins, celebrating the US Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage.
Of course the UK has its own cases of people, especially but not only black who have been killed by police and otherwise in custody and an annual march takes place in Whitehall on the last Saturday of October by the United Families and Friends Campaign to remembers them, with a list of over 2000 names being carried to a rally at Downing Street.
The United Families and Friends Campaign (UFFC) describes itself as “a coalition of families and friends of those that have died in the custody of police and prison officers as well as those who are killed in immigration detention and secure psychiatric hospitals. It includes the families of Roger Sylvester, Leon Patterson, Rocky Bennett, Alton Manning, Christopher Alder, Brian Douglas, Joy Gardner, Aseta Simms, Ricky Bishop, Paul Jemmott, Harry Stanley, Glenn Howard, Mikey Powell, Jason McPherson, Lloyd Butler, Azelle Rodney, Sean Rigg, Habib Ullah, Olaseni Lewis, David Emmanuel (aka Smiley Culture), Kingsley Burrell, Demetre Fraser, Mark Duggan and Anthony Grainger to name but a few. Together we have built a network for collective action to end deaths in custody.”
And we have a long history of racist prosecutions, most notably perhaps the trial of the Mangrove Nine in 1970. The defendants, most of whom defended themselves, were finally all acquitted on the main charge of incitement to riot with four receiving suspended sentences for less serious offences. But the judge made clear in his comments that the authorities and in particular the Metropolitan Police had been racist in their actions and in bringing the prosecution.
Since then there have been other high profile cases which have demonstrated the institutional racism of the police force – notably over their investigation of the murder of Stephen Lawrence and the police murder of Jean Charles de Menezes. In 2023 the report by Baroness Casey was only the latest to castigate them as racist, sexist and homophobic.
Activists in the UK have also responded to the police murders in USA, and on Sunday 3rd May 2015 following the killing of Freddie Gray in Baltimore and police attacks on his funeral which led to massive protest in the USA, they protested in Brixton in solidarity and pointed out similar problems in Brixton and the UK.
It wasn’t a huge protest but was supported by a wide range of groups from Brixton and across London, including London Black Revs, Class War, the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement, Reclaim Brixton, Women of Colour and the All-African Women’s Group from the Global Women’s Strike, Brixton Latin American Community, Mexica Movement London Chapter, Our Brixton, Latin Brixton, Justice for Christopher Alder, BirminghamStrong, Justice 4 ALL, The Brick Lane Debates, Occupy UAL, RCG, Revolutionary Communist Group, Occupy London, Rojava Solidarity Working Group, Algeria Solidarity Campaign, Environmental Justice North Africa and Justice4Paps.
On My London Diary I give some brief facts about the killing of 25-year-old African American Freddie Gray and the attack on his funeral by police which provoked riots. You can read a much more detailed account on Wikipedia.
The march began by going through the large barrier bloc of Southwyck House, built in the 1970s as a shield for the urban motorway, plans for which were dropped after the devastation it would cause became obvious after the Westway section was built in North Kensington, stopping for a brief protest there before it continued to a housing occupation against Guinness Trust opposite the Loughborough Park Estate. It then through the centre of Brixton to a rally in Windrush Square.
People then marched along Brixton Road past the Underground Station to Brixton Police Station and on to the Loughborough Estate to a community centre on Somerleyton Road.
I’d walked far enough and left the march there, walking back along Atlantic Road where I photographed some of the murals against the eviction of local shopkeepers from the railway arches before taking the tube to Westminster to go to visit the Occupy ‘Festival of Democracy‘ in Parliament Square, then in Day 3.
Santas, Education, Nativity – London was getting into the Christmas spirit on Saturday 6th December 2014, with boozy hordes of Santas on the streets and a Fossil Free Nativity Play in Westminster. But a national day of education activism against tuition fees had also been called and I photographed a march in south London.
South London March for Free Education – Clapham
There was a disappointing turnout for the march against tuition fees which gathered outside Lambeth College facing Clapham Common.
It perhaps wasn’t a good day to have called for a protest, as many students will already have left London to go home for the Christmas break, and others will have been busy with other things including Christmas shopping. And I’m sure there will have been rather more running around the capital in Santa costumes for Santacon.
The marchers included people from the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, Lambeth Left Unity and South London Defend Education. This was one of a number of events taking place that day across the country including others around London.
I walked a short distance with the march taking a few photographs before leaving them to take the tube to Westminster. They were marching to a rally in Brixton where they expected rather more to attend.
Christian Climate Action and Occupy organised an entertaining performance of a Fossil Free Nativity Play between Westminster Abbey and Methodist Central Hall, part of a continuing campaign to get churches to disinvest from fossil fuel companies.
Among the members of the cast were Wesley Ingram who wrote the play and performed as the Angel Gabriel, and George Barda of Occupy who played Joseph with his child as the baby Jesus.
Few of the actors had seen the script before the performance and the costumes and props were interesting rather than authentic – perhaps the best being the headgear for the Roman soldiers.
Their was some lively music from violin and trumpet and at the end of the performance everyone posed behind the banners calling for the churches to divest from fossil fuels. But there was no sign of the clergy from either Westminster Abbey and Methodist Central Hall,
Around a thousand young people in Santa suits, along with the odd elf, reindeer and other Christmas-themed costumes were milling around the edge of Clapham Common for the start of day-long alcohol-fuelled crawl through London (with a little help from public transport.)
Similar groups were starting from meeting points in East and North London and they hoped to meet up later in the day at Marble Arch or Hyde Park, though I think for many the festivities would end in Trafalgar Square.
Later in the day I met up with rather more of the Santas coming from North London close to Great Portland Street station, by which time they were rather merrier. I also met a couple of photographer friends who had also come to take pictures. Most of the Santas were keen to be photographed and quite a few also got me to take pictures on their phones, though I found that rather beyond me. I hope a few worked.
I went with them along to Baker Street taking pictures and later in the day wrote:
Thousands in Santa suits and other Xmas deviations, police trying hard to keep smiling, cans of beer, doubtfully soft drinks, just a few Brussel sprouts in the air, crowded bars, sprawling mass of mainly young people having fun on the streets of London. Santacon.
It was getting dark and although I could still work it meant using flash and I didn’t feel the results were as good. I left them there to make my way to join my two friends who by then were sitting in one of the nicest pubs in the area and was delighted to find a pint waiting for me on the table.
Climate Justice, Congo & London – On Saturday 3rd December 2011 there was an Xmas shopping event in the City, normally pretty dead at weekends and Occupy were holding climate justice workshops before joining Campaign Against Climate Change’s annual march. That took me past a protest at Downing Street against the vote-rigging in the recent election in the DRC. I’d taken some pictures earlier as I was going around London and took a few more in the dark later on my way to an event in Acton.
City Xmas Celebrations – Bank
A live musical box
There was a special Xmas Saturday shopping event in the centre of the City of London which usually closes down for the weekend, but I think it was aimed more at the wealthy 1% than me.
Santa had come with real reindeer
I wouldn’t normally have gone but it was on my fastest route to St Paul’s Cathedral and it was the first time the City had held such an event. Though unless there were rather more visitors later in the day it would probably be the last. I didn’t feel welcome and didn’t stay long.
Occupy LSX Climate Justice Workshops – St Paul’s Cathedral steps
Occupy London was still camping next to St Paul’s Cathedral, having been there since 15th October, and they were holding workshops when I arrived about various aspects of climate justice and campaigning, and preparing banners and posters for the Climate Justice march later in the day.
They planned to make their way to the start of the march in a ‘Climate Walk of Shame’ around the offices of various climate change villians (‘unsavoury sites of climate criminality’) in the City.
As often with Occupy, the plenary session went on longer than anticipated. Many people wanted to contribute and some at rather greater length than necessary and the walk began rather late.
I’d hoped to be able to go with them, but only went as far as their first stop at one of the banks in St Paul’s Churchyard before I had to leave to make my own more direct way to the start of the march in Blackfriars.
Stand Up For Climate Justice – Blackfriars to Old Palace Yard
Around a thousand people gathered at Blackfriars for the march organised by the Campaign Against Climate Change to a rally opposite the Houses of Parliament.
Climate talks were taking place in the 17th UN conference in Durban, but seemed unlikely to make much progreess as the US were continuing to refuse to accept mandatory limits on carbon emissions. It seemed likely this would prevent any progress on global reductions in emissions, and seemed certain to lead to catastrophic increases in global temperature. Or, as I put it “bluntly, our planet is going to fry.”
While Barbara Boxer the head of the Senate environment committee was pointing out that the US is the world’s largest historic emitter and thus has a moral obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the US right, and the ‘Tea Party’ movement in particular, were still denying the existence of climate change and vehemently opposing any restrictions on the emissions of US industry.
By 2011 there had long been no serious scientific debate about the reality of climate change, though still some controversy about the exact magnitude and the timescales involved. But all informed opinion agreed that urgent action is needed, though the heavily funded fossil fuel lobby was still spreading lies and opposing any action.
Since 2011 things have become even more clear and the effects have become worse than even the more pessimistic scientists then predicted. But still politicians are not taking the urgent actions needed, and limiting the temperature rise to 1.5°C now seems impossible.
Among many speakers was John Stewart of HACAN who pointed out that while the richest 7% who cause 50% of the world’s pollution, aircraft use, one of the major sources of emissions, is limited to an even more limited group of the world’s population, with only 5% of the world’s population ever having flown.
Congolese Protest Against Kabila Vote-Rigging – Downing St
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is both blessed and cursed by its immense mineral resouces, probably the richest of any country in the world, including 80% of the world’s cobalt reserves, and between 65-80% of coltan, the mineral from which tantalum capacitors, vital for mobile phones, games consoles, computers and other electronic devices are made.
Despite this wealth of the DRC, the people remain some of the poorest in the world, and because of these minerals the country is one of the most corrupt in the world. The move towards renewable energy and the increasing need for batteries for electrical vehicles has led to increased geopolitical competition over the DRC’s cobalt resources.
The area has been the subject of various wars and there is still conflict as well as widespread violation of humanitarian and human rights law, including the sexual abuse of women and children.
The Kabila regime has been kept in office by western interests who have now turned a blind eye to the widespread vote-rigging violence and fraud in the elections. The opposition later claimed to have outvoted Kabila with 54% of the vote to his 26%, while Kabila claimed to have won by 49% to 32%.
In 2019, the son of the candidate thee protesters say won the 2011 election became President in the first peaceful transition of power since the DRC became independent but the early years of his presidency were still with governments dominated by supporters of Kabila. In 2021 he was able to form a new government which among other measures has promised to reverse deforestation in the DRC by 2030.
I’d taken a few views of London as I walked with the Climate March.
And in the early evening I went to an event in North Acton, walking to the venue from Willesden Junction. There are just a few more on-line at London Wandering.
TUC Pensions March & Corporate Greed – On Wednesday 30th November 2011 public sector workers across the country held a one-day strike against government plans to cut public service pensions with pickets at thousands of workplaces and rallies and marches in towns and cities across the country as well as a South East TUC organised march in Central London which I photographed. Later in the afternoon I went with Occupy London protesters who occupied the offices of the highest paid CEO in the UK to protest against corporate greed.
TUC Nov 30 March – Lincolns Inn Fields to Westminster
It’s always hard to estimate the numbers on very large marches such as this one but it was very large and when I arrived at Lincoln’s Inn Fields the large space already seemed pretty crowded an hour before the march was due to start. Many people gave up trying to get in waited to join the march on Kingsway.
At the front of the march were Frances O’Grady, Deputy General Secretary of the TUC, NASUWT president John Rimmer (below) and other trade unionists. Many other groups had come with banners.
There were many placards suggesting ways to avoid the cuts, including by taxing the mega-rich and cutting the pointless and wasteful expenditure on Trident rather than job’s health and education.
Peter Tatchell
Some of the students on the march felt it was going to slow and began to march in front of the main banner.
Police stopped them and held up the whole of the march at Aldwych but then didn’t seem to know what to do. Eventually they just let things go ahead.
I took a lot of pictures of the Education Activist Network who were the liveliest part of the protest but there were plenty of others to photograph too with many interesting hand-made posters.
I stopped for quite a while to photograph marchers as they went past.
and they were still coming in large numbers an hour after the front of the march had passed me.
I was still on the Embankment with marchers when the rally had begun closer to Parliament and people were still rolling in. I think there were probably between 20 and 30,000 taking part, but it was hard to know and I think many who had been on picket lines early in the morning had left before the rally began. I left too to meet with people from Occupy London.
Occupy London Expose Corporate Greed – Piccadilly Circus & Panton House
Occupy London had called people to meet at Piccadilly Circus at 3pm but had not indicated what would be happening next. I arrived to find around a hundred protesters there along with quite a few Greek football supporters and a large number of police standing around watching them.
We stood in the intermittent rain for around half an hour waiting for something to happen. At 3.30pm around 30 people rushed across the road to stand outside a branch of Boots with the ‘Precarious Workers Brigade’ banner, but made no attempt to enter the store which quickly lowered its metal shutters.
Police rushed across the street to surround them, but soon became clear that this had merely been a diversion, as others close to Eros unfolded their long main ‘All Power to the 99%’ banner and rushed down Haymarket with it catching the police by surprise and leaving them behind.
I was running ahead of them, taking pictures over my shoulder and managing to keep ahead, but the police were well behind as we reached Panton St.
Here the protesters set off a bright orange flare, turned down Panton Street and rushed into Panton House. I followed the group with the main banner inside, but stupidly stopped in the foyer to take pictures through the glass frontage of the flares outside.
I was a little behind as the protesters ran up the stairs and rather out of breath after running along the street. By the time I reached the third or fourth landing I had decided to give up and pressed the button for a lift. Police arrived just as the lift came and one officer grabbed me stopping me from getting in.
Police told us all to go downstairs, but around 20 of the protesters and a few press had reached the roof. I made my way down, though it was difficult as more police rushing up pushed those of us going down out of the way.
The police had now surrounded the entrance, preventing any more people entering, but were allowing us to go out. I was pleased to get out because the air inside had been thick with the orange smoke and I had been choking slightly, Smoke flares aren’t intended for indoor use.
A little back on Haymarket by the side of the building protesters outside were taking part in a mike chat group chant to inform passers-by what was going on. From this I learnt that Panton House contains the London offices of the mining company Xstrata, whose CEO Mick Davies they say is the highest paid CEO in the UK, and “is a prime example of the greedy 1% lining their own pockets while denying workers pensions.”
Police began to surround them and I quickly moved away as they kettled the protesters, and also to get a better view of what was happening on the roof. TI had missed seeing the ‘All Power to the 99%’ banner being let down over Haymarket earlier but saw them trying to do so again but being dragged away from the edge. More police vans were now arriving and I decided there would be little else I could see and left.
Occupy & Women’s Equality – On Saturday 19 November 2011 Occupy London was in full swing in St Paul’s Churchyard and elsewhere and the Fawcett Society were protesting against government cuts that were reversing the movement to greater equality for women.
Don’t Turn The Clock Back – Temple to Westminster
The Fawcett Society were angered by government’s cuts which they said were putting the clock back on the advances which women have made towards equality since the 1950s, and had organised a march in protest with a 1950s theme.
Many of the marchers, mainly women, had come dressed in 1950s styles “ranging from the most elegant of Paris fashion of the day to aprons, hairnets and curlers. Others carried brushes or brooms, wooden spoons or other kitchen implements as symbols of what they felt was the only role our government can envisage for women, the ‘good little wife’.”
Many women had been particularly angered by the sexist and patronising putdown in parliament made by then Prime Minister David Cameron, a man who a few days ago made a surprising return to a leading role in UK politics. Probably insulated as he has been from normal life by an education at Eton and Oxford and wealth he thought little about his sexist and patronising put-down ‘Calm Down Dear!’ to Labour’s Angela Eagle in the House of Commons, but it enraged at least half the nation.
On the march people chanted ‘Calm Down Dear!’ followed by the deafening response ‘No We Won’t!‘ The marchers also had some caustic comments directed at the press (though not us journalists covering the march) for their “belittlling labelling of some groups of women in public life – such as ‘Blair’s Babes‘ – as well as the general predominance of semi-pornographic imagery and demeaning attitudes to women.”
But it was the cuts that really were the focus of the march, particularly the cuts in public services. A majority of those who will lose their jobs are women, employed in the NHS and elsewhere. And women depend more on the various services that will be cut, and will also have disproportionally to provide unpaid services such as care to make up for those cut. Finally the cuts in pensions will also have a larger effect on women who were already seeing a raise in their pension age.
The Fawcett Society was founded in 1866 to campaign peacefully for votes for women and remains a powerful campaigning organisation for equal rights. It had called on a wide range of speakers for its rally including journalist Tanya Gold, Estelle Hart, NUS Women’s Officer, comedians Kate Smurthwaite and Josie Lond, Heather Wakefield of Unison, Vivienne Hayes from the Women’s Resource Centre, Chitra Nagarajan of Southall Black sisters. Aisha Mirza from UK Uncut and a spokesperson for the Turkish and Kurdish Refugee Women’s group.
I’d visited Occupy in St Paul’s Churchyard briefly before going to photograph the Fawcett Society march and returned later in the day to visit the ‘Bank of Ideas’ in Sun Street and Occupy Finsbury Circus before returning to St Pauls to hear a range of speakers on other campaigns both in London and around the world, including news of the Occupy movement from the USA and Bristol, where the occupation seems not to have attracted the opposition shown by the City authorities and sections of the church in London.
A meeting in progress in the Bank of Ideas
The Bank of Ideas was an empty former UBS bank building in Sun Street that was occupied and used for a wide range of meetings and discussions.
Occupy Finsbury SquarePeople listen to a wide range of speakers on the steps of St PaulsJeremy CorbynVivienne Westwood
Later a group who had taken part in the non-Stop Picket of South Africa House started by the City of London Anti-Apartheid Group on 19 April 1986 shared some of their songs and their experience.
They had defied defied the attempts of British police, the British government and the South African embassy to remove them for almost 4 years until Mandela was released in 1990. There had been around a thousand arrests, but 96% of the cases brought to court were dismissed. Before this they had organised a number of shorter non-stop protests outside the embassy, the first of which in 1981 lasted 86 days and resulted in South African political prisoners including David Kitson being moved to better conditions.
The official Anti-Apartheid Movement opposed their actions and expelled them from the movement, warned trade union and local anti-apartheid groups not to have anything to do with them and asked Westminster Council to remove them. It wanted to avoid any confrontation with the British Government and opposed the City of London group’s support for other African liberation movements as well as the African National Congress.
Sparks And Students – On Wednesday 9th November there were protests by electricians in Southwark and police shut down most of central London to harass students as they marched to the Moorgate building of London Metropolitan University.
Sparks At The Shard – London Bridge
Around a thousand electricians – ‘sparks ‘ – marched to a protest rally at the building site for the Shard in a protest led by Unite against plans by 7 major employers to tear up national agreements and impose worse conditions and pay cuts of at least 26 %.
In 1968 major employers and the trade union had come together to set up the Electrotechnical Joint Industry Board (JIB) to set standards for the electrical industry and to provide a means of resolving the frequent disputes which were then taking place by bringing together both sides in committees with equal representation. JIB has also developed to set the standards for employment, welfare, grading and apprentice training in the electrical contracting industry.
In May 2011 seven major companies – Bailey Building Services, Balfour Beatty, Tommy Clarke, Crown House Technologies, Gratte Brothers, SES and SPIE Matthew Hall – announced that they would withdraw from the JIB pay and conditions deal and impose their own agreement known as BESNA (Building and Engineering Services National Agreement) which would enable them to replace skilled workers by those on lower grades.
Unite targeted Balfour Beatty for action as the largest company and ring-leader in the employers group and at the rally Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey announced that the union had given notice today of a strike ballot for its members employed by them. The Shard was one of Balfour Beatty’s major projects at the time, along with Crossrail.
Several hundred of the electricians had earlier held a protest in Bishopsgate and visited the Occupy London site at St Paul’s Cathedral before marching to the rally at the Shard. Police had tried to stop them at various points on their march and they arrived with a large police escort.
Before the official rally started there were speeches by rank and file trade unionist. They were followed by several Unite speakers with a final address by McClusky. Around 600 of the sparks then marched off to support the students who were protesting in London but police closed both London Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge and stopped them.
Following this and further actions by rank and file electricians Balfour Beatty, the largest of the firms in Febraury 2012 announced it was going into further talks with Unite on updating the JIB agreements and this was the end for BESNA.
Students March Against Cuts & Fees – Bloomsbury to Moorgate
Despite police attempts to provoke them, more than 5000 student protesters marched largely peacefully against fees increases and cuts in services. Most kept to the agreed route, from London University in Bloomsbury to London Metropolitan University in Moorgate, which was lined by thousands of police.
Students are angry about the high fees and the cuts in education – particularly the loss of the Educational Maintenace Allowances and various cuts in service, but in the early stages of the march the protesters were in a relaxed and positive mood, many talking to and joking with the police who were accompanying them.
After the police failure to stop some student fees protesters who had stormed the Tory HQ at Millbank in 2010, the police this year were determined to control events. To do so they closed all major roads in central London for hours before the march began, making it hard for many to get to the protest. There were no buses and I had to walk two miles from London Bridge and so arrived after the march started.
I could hardly see the marchers as they came down towards me on Shaftesbury Avenue, with a line of mounted police in front, followed by several lines of police on foot. Behind them were march stewards and then the main banner, behind which was a vast crowd of students and supporters carrying placards.
The march continued but with sporadic stoppages by the police for no apparent reason. But after it had come up Strand to Aldwych a snatch squad of police ran into the centre of the march, grabbed several of the many black-clad protesters, and dragged them across to the side of the road. Many around them, including me, were roughly pushed aside and I received a painful kick in my leg from one officer.
The crowd were angered and gathered around the police for some time but were persuaded by stewards to move on. People were further angered when they heard that the group of 600 electricians had been prevented from coming to join them, and the crowd took up the chant “Free the sparks!” But most then continued along the agreed route up Fetter Lane.
Police then decided to try and stop the march in what I commented “seemed like an act of complete folly“. Slowly the marchers pushed the police back from the confines of the street to the open area of Holborn Circus. Here “proceedings reached a state of comic chaos, with senior officers shouting orders to small strings of police to stop the protesters; while they were grappling with the few within reach the rest of us simply walked through the huge gaps between these lines.” Holborn Circus was really a circus.
A large group of students then ran past the police horses on Holborn Viaduct where they had withdrawn from Holborn Circus after several riders had lost control of their horses and I ran with them. Police managed to stop the rest of the marchers on Holborn Viaduct and after a short wait people decided to continue along the agreed route to Morgate without them.
I went on to talk with the people at Occupy Finsbury Circus who were worried by the huge police presence and felt they might be evicted. I thought it unlikely as with 5000 student marchers around it would be likely to spark a riot. I left and walked across the City where major roads were still closed to traffic and remained so for some hours. Later I watched videos showing students being kettled at Moorgate and individuals being attacked by snatch squads of plain clothes police who had posed as protesters after I had left.
