Crowds protest Trump’s Inauguration: On Friday 20th January 2017 I was with a large crowd outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square all of us “appalled at the thought of a president who is a climate change denier, has a long history of racist and Islamophobic outbursts, has boasted of sexually assaulting women and has downplayed the severity of sexual violence.“
No to hate, No to walls , No to Trump who just appalls. Charlie X put it more succinctly
We stood in solidarity at a protest in solidarity with those protesting in the US who had called for protests around the world. This one had been organised by Stand Up to Racism and was supported by many other groups and individuals.
SUTR had set up a stage at the side of the Embassy in a corner of the square and invited a long list of the usual speakers, but the lighting made it difficult to photograph them, with strong lighting shining into the audience and the speakers largely in shadow. I soon gave up as I think they were all people I’d photographed many times and the protesters were far more interesting to me.
Among those protesting were members of the London Guantanamo campaign, some in orange jumpsuits, who have held regular monthly protests outside the embassy for around nine years.
’15 years of Guantanamo is No Joke’
Away from the SUTR bright lights it seemed very dark and I needed to work with flash. Both Trump’s name and his appearance are a gift to protesters as the pictures show.
‘Not with a bang but with a Trump’‘Trump!’
It was good to see Charlie X as Chaplin back again from South Africa.
A group from the Campaign Against Climate Change had an illuminated banner with the message ‘Trump Climate Disaster’.
A woman held up a poster ‘Dear Queen, We’re sorry. Take us back? Love, An American‘.
To one side was a lone woman with a rosary and posters ‘God Bless Trump’. Nobody bothered her.
The statue of President Eisenhower was surrounded by protesters and I felt he looked less confident and happy than usual. Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in WW2, he had stood for president in 1952 against Taft who wanted to undo Roosevelt’s New Deal. But he had also considered using nuclear weapons in Korea and threatened China with them. Under his presidency we had a nuclear arms race, and he might have approved of Trump’s Nuclear Arms Race if not many of his other policies.
A woman holds a poster ‘WHEN ALL IS SAID AND ALL IS DONE WE HAVE BELIEFS, TRUMP HAS NONE’
F**k Trump
I left the Embassy protest to go to Trafalgar Square, where more radical groups were gathering for the F**k Trump protest.
A giant orange Trump’s head in Trafalgar Square
But while the group with the large orange head moved down from the North Terrace into the main Square and ignored the Heritage Wardens order to leave, not a lot seemed to be happening.
Police came and talked with the protesters who largely simply ignored them too, but not a lot appeared to be happening.
I was feeling cold and tired and decided it was time to go home. Later I heard that police had made an unprovoked attack on the protesters.
Anti-fascist Solidarity Against Golden Dawn: Saturday 19th January 2013 was an international day of action against the fascist Golden Dawn Party in Greece, and around 500 people had come to the Greek Embassy in Holland Park in solidarity with the demonstration against the party in Athens.
Police keep anti-fascists away from a small pro-Golden Dawn counter-protest
Golden Dawn, now described in Wikipedia as “a far-right neo-Nazi ultranationalist criminal organisation and former political party” had its origins in 1980 but only became prominent following the 2008 Greek debt crisis which resulted from the global financial crash and crippling austerity measures imposed on Greece by the EU and IMF.
Tony Benn speaking
The founder of the group, Nikolaos Michaloliakos, who called himself ‘Fuhrer’, is an ardent support of Adolf Hitler and a holocaust denier, and the group adopted similar symbolism, slogans, salutes and policies to the Nazis. They wanted to return Greece to a military dictatorship such as that which had ruled the country from 1967-74.
Golden Dawn seized on the existing racism and Islamophobia against immigrants and refugees by forming attack squads against them in the parts of Athens where they had most support, their actions covered by the support of the police who also launched their own operation conducting large numbers of strip searches and detentions – much like the current ICE in the USA.
Weyman Bennett, UAF
In the Greek May and June 2012 elections Golden Dawn had got 6.9% of the vote and 18 MPs, with similar results in the 2015 elections. But by 2019 their vote had fallen below the 3% needed for them to have any representation in parliament, largely due to resistance by the working class through strikes and demonstrations and with the rise of the left-wing Syriza party.
Jeremy Corbyn MP
In 2020 Michaloliakos and other prominent part members were found guilty of murder, attempted murder, and violent attacks on immigrants and left-wing political opponents and were sent to prison.
The London protest was organised by Unite Against Fascism (UAF) and “similar solidarity protests were taking place around the world, including in New York, Sydney, Barcelona, Lyons, Toronto, Dublin, Vienna, Moscow, Canberra, Warsaw, Chicago, Copenhagen, Montreal, Bilbao, Milan, Finland, Slovenia, Derry, Cork, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds and Bristol.”
Tony Benn & Gerry Gable
There were speeches at the protest by some leading members of the British left, including Tony Benn and Jeremy Corbyn, as well as those from various Greek organisations, and I list some of the speakers in My London Diary. Among the speakers was Gerry Gable, the editor of Searchlight, long a powerful force against racist and fascist groups, who died recently.
Police stop protesters going down the street to confront the small group of Golden Dawn supporters
Elizabeth Mantzari of Solidarity with the Greek resistance “had just begun to speak hen there was an uproar down the road, as some of the crowd rushed to protest against a small group of right-wing supporters of Golden Dawn.”
British Friends Of Golden Dawn
Police quickly formed a line to stop others following them, and then began moving the anti-fascists back behind it away from the 15 ‘British Friends Of Golden Dawn’, some of whom I recognised from former EDL protests. I tried to talk to some of them but was insulted and accused of working for Searchlight – which unfortunately I had never done.
Anarchist solidarity with the squats banner in front of the Greek Embassy
The rally opposite the Greek Embassy continued, though I had missed some of the speeches. Clearly as I ended my account, “The protest was a success for the UAF, and yet another humiliation for the extreme right.”
Gaza, Freedom, Syria & Gay Tourism: Saturday 18th January 2014 was the fifth anniversary of the end of the 2008/9 Israeli massacre in Gaza, Operation Cast Lead in which around 1,400 people, many unarmed civilians were killed. I also photographed a rather unorganised protest by Anonymous against privatisation, cuts, environmental and other issues, a peace vigil by Syria Peace & Justice and finally Queer Strike and ‘No Pinkwashing’ picketing a beach-themed LGBT tourism event promoting Israel as a tourist destination.
Gaza Massacre 5th Anniversary
Israeli Embassy, Kensington
Around 500 people had come to a protest on Kensington High Street opposite the private road leading to the Israeli embassy. The attacks on Gaza in 2008-9, Operation Cast Lead, had shocked the civilised world, though the 1400 largely civilian deaths were on a small scale compared to the current ongoing genocide when over 70,000 have died, with deaths continuing daily since the so-called ceasefire.
As well as continuing Israeli attacks children and old people are now dying in Gaza due to the freezing conditions and inadequate shelter because of the destruction of buildings and the continuing Israeli restrictions preventing much of the humanitarian aid and critical supplies needed to keep people safe, alive and well.
The hundreds who came to the protest in 2014 kept up a noisy barrage of chanting calling for justice for the victims of Israel’s massacre and against the ongoing siege on Gaza for around an hour before a series of speeches.
Among those at the protest were many Palestinians as well as Jews some of whom had been leading the call for a boycott of Israeli goods. It was supported by a wide range of groups and on My London Diary I gave the following list : “Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Palestinian Forum in Britain, British Muslim Initiative, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Stop the War Coalition, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Friends of Al-Aqsa UK, Liberal Democrats Friends of Palestine, War on Want, Unite the Union, Public and Commercial Services Union, Amos Trust and ICAHD UK.”
This protest had been called by Anonymous supporters following their large protest on Novemeber 5th, but fewer than a couple of hundred had arrived. Some had instead gone to the Gaza protest, and like me will have arrived rather late for this event.
They were in one corner of Trafalgar Square and people took turns to speak at an open microphone. As well as those in ‘Anonymous’ masks I recognised many who had taken part in Occupy London.
Charlie X at the protest
Eventually someone suggested that they march to Parliament. For once the police facilitated this, suggesting they could walk along the southbound carriageway of Whitehall, and shepherding them across the traffic lights to do so. It “had been organised as a peaceful and family-friendly event, and this was the case, as they marched past Downing St with nothing more than a few shouts and rude gestures and on to Parliament Square.”
When they arrived outside Parliament “it became obvious that this was a protest without leaders, and with no real idea where they were going or what to do.” People – including some police made a number of suggestions but eventually they decided to stop in Parliament Square for a rally.
They were still on the roadway, but after a couple of minutes agreed to police suggestions that they move onto the pavement so that traffic could flow again.
There were then a few speeches followed by some discussion about what they should do next.
One suggestion was that they should stay where they were and party in Parliament Square and it seemed likely that they would do so.
I decided it was time to leave and walked back up Whitehall past a small crowd of police vans. The police were obviously taking no chances and I think probably outnumbered the protesters, although most simply sat in their vans.
Back in Trafalgar Square I found a small group from Syria Peace & Justice holding a peace vigil “calling for immediate humanitarian ceasefires and the release of all political prisoners and an inclusive Syrian-led peace process.”
The Geneva 2 peace talks were to start the following week and they said that the agenda was being “being set by major foreign powers like the US and Russia” and that only the Syrian government and a Turkey based Syrian group had been invited.
They demanded “an inclusive Syrian-led peace process that includes strong representation from Syrian women, Syrian civil society organisations and various moderate Syrian opposition groups.”
Queer Strike, Women of Colour, the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, and people from the ‘No Pinkwashing’ campaign had come to picket an event promoting Israel as a tourist destination for LGBT people.
A security man objects as the protesters block the arcade entrance briefly for photographs
The Gay Star Beach Party LGBT tourism event claimed Tel Aviv to be “one of the best gay cities in the world” and together with the Israeli Tourism Board they were trying to persuade gay people to holiday there.
The protesters say that this is “pinkwashing”, an attempt to divert attention from human rights crimes against Palestinians, using opposition to homophobia to legitimise Israel and undermine support for Palestine. They called on those going to the event to boycott it and not go to Israel until it ends human rights abuses, recognises the Palestinians’ right to self-determination and complies with international law.
They handed out a card with five reasons for LGBT tourists to boycott Israel:
- the military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza since 1967, with over 100 illegal Israeli settlements on land stolen from Palestinians;
- the violence against Palestinian children, hundreds of whom are arrested each year and held in military detention without access to lawyers, mainly for alleged stone-throwing;
- the inhuman siege of Gaza, blocking import of food, fuel and medical supplies and preventing the repair of many homes destroyed in the 2008-9 invasion by Israel;
- the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homes and land which began in 19438 and still continues, creating millions of refugees;
the apartheid system of roads reserved for Jewish Israelis, the apartheid wall and the many check points involving long waits and searches for Palestinians.
The protesters also highlighted Israel’s racist treatment of African people, There had been protests the previous week in Tel Aviv by 30,000 African asylum seekers and refugees demanding that all African refugees imprisoned in Israeli prisons and detention centres be freed and for recognition of their rights as asylum seekers and refugees.
Pauline Campbell Protests At Holloway: On Wednesday 16 January 2008, Pauline Campbell was one of a small group of campaigners at the entrance to Holloway Prison following the death of 24-year-old woman Jaime Pearce in the prison the previous month. She was the eighth woman to die in prison in 2025. Only 4 months later in May 2008 I was stunned by the news that Pauline herself had been found dead on her daughter’s grave.
I wrote a lengthy piece about her and her campaigning at the time of the protest at Holloway which I’ll reproduce here, together with a few of the pictures. I had some problems taking pictures, both because of being obstructed and pushed by police and also technical issues with my Nikon flash.
Protest Against Deaths in Prison
Holloway Prison, London. Wednesday 16 January
Police converge on Pauline Campbell as she tries to show her poster to an approaching prison van.
Jamie Pearce* died in Holloway Prison on 10 December 2007, aged only 24. She was the eighth woman to die in jail in 2007. Eventually there will be an inquest which may provide information about how and why she died. Prisons have a duty to take care of everyone entrusted to them, and any death represents a failure. Marie Cox, aged 34, had also died in Holloway just a few months earlier on 30 June 2007. “To lose both” in such a short time – to borrow a phrase from Mr Wilde, “looks like carelessness.”
A small group of demonstrators gathered at the entrance to Holloway on the afternoon of Wednesday 16 January to display banners and lay flowers in memory of Jamie Pearce, although very little seems to be known about this young woman. [more about her in the written evidence from INQUEST to the Justice Committee.]
Two of those present were mothers whose children had died in jail, the organiser of the protest, Pauline Campbell, and Gwen Calvert, whose son Paul died on remand in Pentonville in 2004. The jury at his inquest gave a damning verdict against the prison, finding “systematic failures, incomplete paperwork, lack of communication, disablement of cell bells, breach of security…”
Sarah Campbell was only 18 when she died in Styal prison in 2003, her death recorded by the prison authorities as “self-inflicted.” Two years later the inquest found that her death was caused by antidepressant prescription drug poisoning and said that there was a “failure in the duty of care” and that “avoidable delays” in summoning an ambulance contributed to her death.
I first met Pauline Campbell when she spoke powerfully about her daughter’s death at the United Families and Friends protest against deaths in custody in Trafalgar Square in October 2003. During the afternoon at Holloway she quoted to me something I had written in October 2006, and which I had actually forgotten. “One small piece of positive news came from Pauline Campbell, whose daughter Sarah Campbell died in Styal prison in 2003. She said ‘After nearly four years of my struggle for justice – in a highly unusual move, the Home Office have finally admitted responsibility for the death of my daughter Sarah Campbell, including liability for breach of Sarah’s human rights under the European Convention on Human Rights. Don’t give up the fight.”
It was a fight that took Pauline to many protests around the country on behalf of other women who have died in prison and numerous arrests, with recognition by the 2005 Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize for her campaigning. She also became a trustee of the Howard League for Penal Reform. After one of her 14 arrests she was brought to a criminal trial in September 2007 and acquitted when the judge threw the case out of court.
Pauline Campbell shows pictures from Indymedia of her being assaulted by police in 2007 at Holloway.
Since Sarah Campbell’s death in 2003, forty women prisoners have died. We’ve suffered for many years under successive governments who have courted tabloid approval for being ‘tough’ by criminalising and banging up many more women and men with little regard for worsening conditions in prisons. Positive ideas and programmes have largely been sidelined, and the incredible number of prisoners with mental health problems largely brushed under the carpet. It’s a system that is failing, one one whose failings actually greatly compounds the problem by increasing re-conviction rates.
This time she was pushed with considerable force and and ended on the ground. I was also being jostled by police
An inspector and seven police officers lined the roadway leading into Holloway, restricting it to a small area of pavement – and then periodically complained that the pavement was being obstructed. They did allow an adjoining area of pavement normally open to the public but apparently on prison property to be used briefly for photographs, but then made their own job considerably harder by insisting that the demonstrator and press moved back onto the relatively narrow pavement.
At intervals through the long afternoon, SERCO vans came to bring more prisoners to jail. As they did so, Pauline Campbell rushed forward with her double-sided placard demanding ‘HOLLOWAY PRISON LONDON JAMIE PEARCE, 24 Died 10 DEC 2007 WHY?’ and the line of police stopped her.
The first time this happened she was pushed very forcefully by the Inspector, sending her flying to the ground. It looked for a moment as if we were going to see a repeat of the disgraceful treatment given to her at the p;revious year’s demonstration here (I wasn’t present, but I have watched the video and seen the photos) but the police appeared to have rethought their approach, keeping hold of her and preventing her going through the police line rather than pushing her away.
The atmosphere during the demonstration was quite unlike any other I’ve been to; in many ways it was more like some soirée with Pauline Campbell as an attentive host, talking to people, introducing everyone to the others present and keeping track notes of everyone’s details in her notebook. The police too came in for a great deal of her attention, although some seemed rather resistant to her attempts to educate them. Some at least resented being taken away from other duties to police this event.
Gwen Calvert and Pauline Campbell together
But at least some of the blame for what is happening must fall on police and prison staff who run the business and are in a position to observe its many failings first hand. It’s hard to see why prison governors, chief constables, leaders of the various professional associations for prison workers and police aren’t far more active in campaigning for reform – and it would be good to see some of them standing beside Pauline Campbell.
* Later Pauline found that the prison had not even got her name right on the death certificate and that she was JAIME Pearce. What does it say for ‘prison care’ if they do not even care enough to enter prisoners names correctly?
12 Days of Christmas -some of my favourite pictures from those I made in October 2025.
London, UK. 4 Oct 2025. Police came in force to Trafalgar Square to make entirely unnecessary arrests of people sitting quietly holding the message “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action” but presenting no threat to public order, showing requests to call off the protest after the Manchester attack as the police had other priorities to be false. Many protesters made clear their opposition to anti-Semitism and killing here and in Gaza, and many were Jewish. Police began slowly arresting individuals and carrying them to waiting police vans. Peter Marshall.London, UK. 4 Oct 2025. Police carry arrested woman. Hundreds came to Trafalgar Square to defy the law and sit holding the message “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”. They waited patiently for police to arrest them under the Terrorism Act. They had ignored attempts to call off the protest following the Manchester attack with many making clear their opposition to anti-Semitism and killing – both here and in Gaza. Many taking part were Jewish. Police began slowly arresting individuals and carrying them away to waiting police vans. Peter Marshall.London, UK. 4 Oct 2025. Police carry a man away. Hundreds came to Trafalgar Square to defy the law and sit holding the message “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”. They waited patiently for police to arrest them under the Terrorism Act. They had ignored attempts to call off the protest following the Manchester attack with many making clear their opposition to anti-Semitism and killing – both here and in Gaza. Many taking part were Jewish. Police began slowly arresting individuals and carrying them away to waiting police vans. Peter Marshall.London, UK. 4 Oct 2025. I oppose Genocide. Hundreds came to Trafalgar Square to defy the law and sit holding the message “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”. They waited patiently for police to arrest them under the Terrorism Act. They had ignored attempts to call off the protest following the Manchester attack with many making clear their opposition to anti-Semitism and killing – both here and in Gaza. Many taking part were Jewish. Police began slowly arresting individuals and carrying them away to waiting police vans. Peter Marshall.London, UK. 11 Oct 2025. Charlie X – Humanity’s Last Stand., Over half a million including many Jews marched to demand a permanent end to Israeli attacks on Gaza, for an end to arms sales to Israel, for the siege of Gaza to end so international aid can end starvation, allow medical supplies and begin rebuilding hospitals, schools and homes. They demand international journalists to be let in to report and for war criminals to be brought to justice and for a lasting and just peace settlement for the whole of Palestine. Peter Marshall.London, UK. 11 Oct 2025. Front of the march at Parliament. Over half a million including many Jews marched to demand a permanent end to Israeli attacks on Gaza, for an end to arms sales to Israel, for the siege of Gaza to end so international aid can end starvation, allow medical supplies and begin rebuilding hospitals, schools and homes. They demand international journalists to be let in to report and for war criminals to be brought to justice and for a lasting and just peace settlement for the whole of Palestine. Peter Marshall.London, UK. 11 Oct 2025. Over half a million including many Jews marched to demand a permanent end to Israeli attacks on Gaza, for an end to arms sales to Israel, for the siege of Gaza to end so international aid can end starvation, allow medical supplies and begin rebuilding hospitals, schools and homes. They demand international journalists to be let in to report and for war criminals to be brought to justice and for a lasting and just peace settlement for the whole of Palestine. Peter Marshall.London, UK. 11 Oct 2025. A red smoke flare. Over half a million including many Jews marched to demand a permanent end to Israeli attacks on Gaza, for an end to arms sales to Israel, for the siege of Gaza to end so international aid can end starvation, allow medical supplies and begin rebuilding hospitals, schools and homes. They demand international journalists to be let in to report and for war criminals to be brought to justice and for a lasting and just peace settlement for the whole of Palestine. Peter Marshall.London, UK. 11 Oct 2025. Over half a million including many Jews marched to demand a permanent end to Israeli attacks on Gaza, for an end to arms sales to Israel, for the siege of Gaza to end so international aid can end starvation, allow medical supplies and begin rebuilding hospitals, schools and homes. They demand international journalists to be let in to report and for war criminals to be brought to justice and for a lasting and just peace settlement for the whole of Palestine. Peter Marshall.London, UK. 25 October 2025. Marcia Rigg whose brother Sean was killed by police in Brixton in 2008. The 26th annual remembrance procession by the United Families and Friends Campaign (UFFC) marched from Trafalgar Square to Downing St for a rally with speakers from the families whose relatives killed by police and in penal, mental health and immigration detention. They call for justice and proper investigations with officers involved treated like others suspected of crimes, and delivered a letter to the Prime Minister calling for a face to face meeting with him and for reparatory justice. Peter Marshall.London, UK. 25 Oct 2025. Police had banned UKIP from marching in Tower Hamlets and instead they held a march from Brompton Oratory to Marble Arch. Only around 200 marched against so-called Islamist Invaders, calling for mass deportations. A larger group of anti-fascists were waiting for them at Hyde Park Corner, heavily held back by police, and a much larger crowd had gathered in Tower Hamlets in a show of solidarity against Islamophobia and hate of migrants. Peter Marshall
More from November in tomorrow’s post. You can view many more of my pictures from each of the events here – and a few others – in my albums on Facebook.
12 Days of Christmas -some of my favourite pictures from those I made in September 2025.
September was a very month for me in London and I found it impossible to stick to just one picture per event as I have done for most of these ’12 Days of Christmnas ‘posts.
London, UK. 3 Sept 2025. A small group led by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) braved bad weather to march from Stratford Station to the Excel Centre raising awareness in Newham about the worlds largest Arms Fair, DSEI, which begins on 9th September with arms dealers from around the world including Israel selling weapons used for killing and oppression. Protests began there on Monday and continue daily until the fair ends on the 12th. Peter Marshall.London, UK. 6 Sept 2025. Hundreds of thousands marched in London demanding an immediate end to the Israeli genocide in Gaza where the IDF is targeting hospitals and people queueing for food and killing 100 people a day as the people starve. They demand all arms sales to Israel end, condemn Israeli plans to force Palestinians into a concentration camp and marched to defend the right to protest and for an end to government support of Israel. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 6 Sept 2025. Hundreds of thousands marched in London demanding an immediate end to the Israeli genocide in Gaza where the IDF is targeting hospitals and people queueing for food and killing 100 people a day as the people starve. They demand all arms sales to Israel end, condemn Israeli plans to force Palestinians into a concentration camp and marched to defend the right to protest and for an end to government support of Israel. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 6 Sep2025. Over a thousand campaigners had signed up to defy the ban on supporting Palestine Action and Parliament Square was filled with people sitting and standing with the message “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action” despite a warning they would be arrested under the Terrorism Act. At 1pm police surrounded the square and a couple of squads began arresting individuals, surrounded by crowds calling ‘Shame’ and worse and making the arrests slow and difficult. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 6 Sep2025. A man is arrested. Over a thousand campaigners had signed up to defy the ban on supporting Palestine Action and Parliament Square was filled with people sitting and standing with the message “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action” despite a warning they would be arrested under the Terrorism Act. At 1pm police surrounded the square and a couple of squads began arresting individuals, surrounded by crowds calling ‘Shame’ and worse and making the arrests slow and difficult. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 6 Sep2025. Over 30 poilicw go into the crowd to arrest one elderly woman among the over a thousand campaigners had signed up to defy the ban on supporting Palestine Action. Parliament Square was filled with people sitting and standing with the message “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action” despite a warning they would be arrested under the Terrorism Act. At 1pm police surrounded the square and a couple of squads began arresting individuals, surrounded by crowds calling ‘Shame’ and worse and making the arrests slow and difficult. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 9 Sep 2025. ‘War Crimes, Sex Crimes, Cut for the Same Cloth’. Despite the Underground strike, hundreds protested at the opening day of the world’s largest arms fair calling for a mass blocade against Britain’s complicity in genocide. Britain’s arms trade profits from the slaughter of Palestinians and other civilians around the world and Israel had a pavilion at the DSEI arms fair, selling weapons that have been ‘battle-tested’ in Gaza. Police cleared the area at lunchtime. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 9 Sep 2025. HOW MANY DEATHS WILL IT TAKE TILL THEY KNOW THAT TOO MANY PEOPLE HAVE DIED!! People protest as police clear the area. Despite the Underground strike, hundreds protested at the opening day of the world’s largest arms fair calling for a mass blocade against Britain’s complicity in genocide. Britain’s arms trade profits from the slaughter of Palestinians and other civilians around the world and Israel has a pavilion at the DSEI arms fair, selling weapons that have been ‘battle-tested’ in Gaza. Peter Marshall.London, UK. 13 Sept 2025. Around 20,000 marched march through London in opposition to the larger extreme right march also taking place. They opposed the protests against refugees and asylum seekers calling for fair and humane treatment for all who arrive in the UK and for an end to racism and Islamophobia. From a rally in Russell Square they marched led by Women Against the Far Right to Whitehall. Peter Marshall.London, UK. 17 Sep 2025. Dump Trump. Thousands marched through London against the state visit to the UK by Trump in a protest by the Stop Trump Coalition uniting many groups. Many carried placards and posters ridiculing Trump and denouncing him as a fascist and dictator. They say the UK should not be pandering to Trump but opposing his dangerous and divisive actions including climate denial and support for genocide in Gaza. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 20 Sept 2025. Bog Off Bezos! Thousands came to the ‘Make Them Pay’ march, part of a global week of action on climate justice backed by an alliance of trade unions and campaigning organisations representing millions of workers, citizens and communities across Britain. They say ‘Billionaires have broken Britain – Make THEM pay to fix it.’ They demand the government tax the super-rich, protect workers not billionaires and make polluters pay. Peter Marshall.
12 Days of Christmas -some of my favourite pictures from those I made in August 2025.
London, UK. 2 Aug 2025. We Are Alll Migrants. Rival groups of protesters kept apart by police at the Thistle City Barbican Hotel, Finsbury. Some locals say asylum seekers there had caused a plague of crime and antisocial behaviour and right wing groups held a protest there, opposed by Stand Up To Racism and groups who say racism and Islamophobia are being used to scapegoat refugees and migrants and fascists are not welcome here. A large block of anarchists arrived, ignored police and stood between the two other groups. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 2 Aug 2025. Louise Raw holds a long list of far right convicted sex offenders. Rival groups of protesters kept apart by police at the Thistle City Barbican Hotel, Finsbury. Some locals say asylum seekers there had caused a plague of crime and antisocial behaviour and right wing groups held a protest there, opposed by Stand Up To Racism and groups who say racism and Islamophobia are being used to scapegoat refugees and migrants and fascists are not welcome here.. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 6 Aug 2025. Councillor Eddie Hanson, Mayor of Camden lays a wreath at the new Cherry Tree which had just been planted. Ceremonies around the world mark the 80th anniversary of the devastating US exploding the world’s first nuclear bomb at Hiroshima, instantly killing thousands of innocent civilians with many more dying in the days, months and years from radiation. A new cherry tree was planted in Tavistock Square where speakers, artists and singers led reflections calling for no more nuclear war. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 9 Aug 2025. Police arrest an old woman at the protest supporting Palestine after the march through London protesting against Israel starving the people of Gaza to death. They seemed to object to a leaflet she was handing out. They called on the UK government to stop arming Israel and to end their complicity with genocide and join the international community in opposing Israel’s actions. Peter Marshall/Alamy Live NewsLondon, UK. 9 Aug 2025. Police arrest and carry a protester away. Hundreds, perhaps a thousand or morecampaigners defied the law and sat to Parliament Square with the message “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action” despite warnings they might be arrested under the Terrorism Act. The protest came after Amnesty and international scholars and others had joined many others in calling for the ban to be lifted and permission had been give for a legal action against the ban to go ahead. Police carried away many of them to waiting police vans. Peter Marshall.London, UK. 9 Aug 2025. Members of the United Voices of the World at the Canary Wharf Radisson Blu hotel and the Draughts board game bar both on strike held joint protests at Canary Wharf and here outside the bar in the Leake St graffiti tunnel. The housekeepers are fighting brutal cuts to hours and demanding 40-hour contracts, fair workloads, and the London Living Wage and bar staff are protesting against zero-hour contracts, unpaid training and unsafe working conditions. Peter Marshall.London, UK. 23 Aug 2025. At Starbucks. The Revolutionary Communist Group protest at UK businesses on and around Oxford St which support and profit from the ethnic cleansing, starvation, and genocide of the Palestinian people. Israel’s colonial regime provides high profits, and speeches at each stop detailed evidence against the company. The protest demanded severing all ties with Israel and comprehensive sanctions and claimed the UK government is committed to crushing the Palestine solidarity through state repression and media lies. Peter Marshall.London, UK. Journalists and media workers at Downing Street honour the courageous reporting of the journalists of Gaza who are being deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza for telling the world the truth of the genocide. The names of over 240 who are confirmed killed since 7 October 2023 were read out after speeches from Al Jazeera journalist Wael Dadouh, Ahmed Anaouq of We Are Not Numbers and Sangita Myska. Peter Marshall.
Some of my favourite pictures from those I made in January 2025:
London, UK. 11 Jan 2025. TRUMP CLIMATE CATATROSPHE. US Embassy protest called by Campaign against Climate Change rejects Trumps climate denial and demands urgent action as world reaches 1.5 degree man-made temperature rise and climate disasters occur around the world. Trump has said he will pull the US out of the Paris agreement and his example will embolden climate deniers around the world, threatening homes, livelihoods and lives of billions, particularly in the poorest countries which have done least to cause our climate chaos. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 18 Jan 2025. After police had banned their march from the BBC on spurious political grounds the march organisers decided to hold a rally in Whitehall. Speakers and marchers welcomed the current ceasefire agreement but continued to call for a permanent end to the genocide, an end to arms sales to Israel, for the release of all hostages and prisoners, for urgent humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza and for peace with justice for Palestinians. Over a thousand police surrounded and harassed the protesters to prevent them marching. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 18 Jan 2025. Police harass a group of holocaust survivors and familes, making the move further up Whitehall. After police had banned their march from the BBC on spurious political grounds the march organisers decided to hold a rally in Whitehall. Speakers and marchers welcomed the current ceasefire agreement but continued to call for a permanent end to the genocide, an end to arms sales to Israel, for the release of all hostages and prisoners, for urgent humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza and for peace with justice for Palestinians. Over a thousand police surrounded and harassed the protesters to prevent them marching. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 18 Jan 2025. After police had banned their march from the BBC on spurious political grounds the march organisers decided to hold a rally in Whitehall. Speakers and marchers welcomed the current ceasefire agreement but continued to call for a permanent end to the genocide, an end to arms sales to Israel, for the release of all hostages and prisoners, for urgent humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza and for peace with justice for Palestinians. Over a thousand police surrounded and harassed the protesters to prevent them marching but sherperded the front few rows through the of marchers through the police line into Trafalgar Square, where they were arrested.London, UK. 27 Jan 2025. At the start of Jubilee Year 2025 campaigners of all faiths and none begin their global campaign for debt justice at the Treasury demanding the cancellation of global debts owed to the rich world by countries in the Global South. A campaign by Jubilee 2000 at the previous Jubilee led to the cancellation of billions of dollars of debts. Jubilee years in ancient civilisations and Bibel law restored social balance and reduced inequality and symbolised justice, renewal and liberation. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 29 Jan 2025. Bus Drivers marched from Victoria to Parliament accompanied by Caroline Russell, AM.. They call for proper rest breaks to avoid fatigue that leads to mistakes – in the last 10 years 80 people have died in collisions involving buses. They demand clean, serviced toilet and rest facilities on all bus routes and for proper heating and air conditioning in cabs. Peter Marshall/Alamy Live NewsLondon, UK. 29 Jan 2025. Members of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a civil, volunteer-based organisation focused on the safe return of all Israeli citizens held hostage by the terrorist organization Hamas, stood in silence facing Downing Street holding up photographs of those still held in Gaza. There message was simple ‘Bring them home now – by any means necessary’. Peter MarshallLondon, UK. 29 Jan 2025. Teachers from non-academy sixth form colleges on strike against a two-tier pay system which would mean them getting paid 2% less than colleagues in academies came to a National Education Union rally at parliament against this obvious injustice, demanding equal pay. Sicth form colleges receive 22% less funding than secondary schools. Two further strike days are planned next month.Peter MarshallLondon, UK 30 Jan 2025. A large crowd at the law courts in Strand support 16 climate activists – JSO16 – appealing their jail sentences for standing up for our planet’s future. Judges prevented juries from hearing the reasons they acted. At first people stood on the pavement with placards but soon hundreds marched in carrying posters with captions and large pictures of political prisoners and sat down blocking the road as an exhibition. Police warned them they might be arrested. Peter MarshallLondon, UK 30 Jan 2025. People remember the 53rd anniversary of Bloody Sunday when British soldiers opened fire on a peaceful protest march in Derry against internment without trial, killing 26 unarmed civilians. The vigil in Parliament Square organised by the Terence MacSwiney Committee called for justice. Speakers including several MPs linked the killing with other conflicts caused by British imperialism including the current genocide in Palestine, expressing support for the Palestinian people. Peter Marshall
Howls of protest for death of the NHS – a campaigner howls and bangs a pan lid
NHS campaigners came to Downing Street on Friday 23rd December 2016, the day that contracts were signed for 44 areas covering the whole of England to implement the government’s ‘Sustainability and Transformation Plans’ (STP).
Paula Peters of Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC)
Including many health professionals the campaigners saw these plans as the last nail in the coffin of the NHS, effectively handing over the NHS to private companies without any public engagement of consultation, ending a public service whose vision which has long been the envy of the world, signing the NHS over for private profit.
The government’s ‘Sustainability and Transformation Plans’ (STP) – Slash, Trash & Plunder
A series of speeches was interrupted every 15 minutes by three long and loud ‘howls of protest‘, timed to coincide with three social media ‘Thunderclaps’ across Facebook, Twitter & Tumblr by several hundreds unable to be there in person.
Among speakers were Paula Peters of DPAC, Ealing Councillor Aysha Raza, trainee nurse Anthony Johnson of the Bursary or Bust campaign, trainee mental health nurse Gina, a patient and campaigner and retired Paediatrician Tony O’Sullivan, Co-chair of Keep Our NHS Public.
People start a ‘Howl of Protest’ for the NHS
At the end of the rally, a small group of those present, led by DPAC and a banner listing of few of those who had died because of government cuts marched down Whitehall holding up traffic for a final howl outside Parliament and a speech there by Paula Peters.
The police got a little aggressive and started pushing the protesters and threatening arrest
As they came to the end of Parliament Street police came to harass them, threatening them with arrest if they did not get onto the pavement. Like many such police interventions this only prolonged the traffic holdup as the protesters were about to cross the road to the wide pavement outside Parliament but were delayed by police arguing with them.
Sustainability and transformation plans were fortunately short-lived and soon morphed into ‘sustainability and transformation partnerships‘ which by 2018 were becoming known as ‘integrated care systems‘, and then were expected to evolve into ‘accountable care systems‘. It all reflected an increasing half-baked emphasis on managers and management changes which damaged the ability of the NHS to actually treat patients.
Many feel that government policies – under both Tories and Labour – have been designed to wreck the NHS so it can be replaced by an insurance-based system – with great profits for the mainly US-based healthcare companies who make large financial contributions to leading politicians and in which many also have a direct financial interest.
Bloody Murder at Ripper ‘Museum‘: Another of the series of protests by Class War at the so-called museum glorifying the gory murders of working-class women took place on Saturday 5th December 2015.
A police officer smiles while another looks fixedly away as Jane Nichol displays the bloody head
I photographed most if not all of the protests they organised in a campaign they kept up for some years, showing their disgust at this fake museum, which the owner, Mark Palmer-Edgecumbe got planning consent to open claiming it was to celebrate the powerful history of the women of London’s East end, not their bloody dismemberment by a homicidal maniac.
Jane Nicholl waves her grandson’s plastic cutlass (or scimitar?) at the Ripper ‘museum’
Class War were always interesting to photograph – and always fun to be with, as well as supporting important campaigns, particularly those around housing problems, bringing both a clear and informed anarchist perspective and a great deal of street theatre.
The Lucy Parsons banner. The Ripper attacks were by an upper class man on working working-class women
And their publications including the Class War magazine were always a good read, with often penetrating analysis as well as some distinctly black humour, truly black and red and read. You can see many earlier editions online at The Sparrow’s Nest.
Ian Bone’s autobiography, Bash the Rich: True Life Confessions of an Anarchist in the UK is certainly an interesting read and the 1991 Class War: A Decade of Disorder he edited comes with the ‘Publishers’ Warning! This book contains explicit language and illustration which may offend yuppies, police officers, members of the royal family and people who think the world can be changed by holding hands and singing “We shall overcome.” ‘
As I wrote back in 2015, “Class War re-enacted a murder outside the Jack the Ripper tourist attraction, women hacking and decapitating a dummy wearing the mask of owner Mark Palmer-Edgecumbe with a plastic scimitar and liberally spattering fake blood as others played kazoos“
More fake blood is scattered on the Palmer-Edgecumbe ‘guy’ – and on my trousers as I took the picture – it washed out easily
Class War is more of a loose association of like-minded people than an organisation and its actions often gain support from many others, including on this occasion and others fourth-wave feminists.
After Jane others took their turn in attacking the dummy which proved remarkably resistant to the plastic scimitar, but finally Jane could triumphantly display the bloody severed head of Palmer-Edgecumbe,
and others came to kick its body.
Women showed their bloody hands,
and Ian Bone came carrying the rolled-up banner and his walking stick to inspect the corpse.
Police wanted Class Wat to remove the Palmer-Edgecumbe ‘guy’ but they declined, saying they were donating it to the museum as one of the few genuine exhibits for their display. Police followed Class War as they walked away to the pub, and it seemed for a moment they might make and arrest – perhaps for littering – but they thought better of it and walked back to guard the shop. They were still there when I left the pub around an hour later.
Ten years later the tacky tourist attraction remains open, though my conclusion to this protest had hoped for a different conclusion:
“Thanks at least in part to Class War’s publicity and vigorous protests over around five months others have taken up the fight against the so-called museum, and the fight to get a real museum celebrating the powerful history of the women of London’s East End. It’s a rich heritage with powerful and colourful figures in which the bloody murders by the Ripper are only an insignificant and entirely negative episode. Perhaps it’s now time for others to take up a long-term if probably lower-key campaign here and continue it until this bloody blot on our heritage is closed down.“
More of my thoughts about the ‘museum’ and about the protest – with many more pictures – on My London Diary at Bloody Murder at Ripper ‘museum’.
