The Demonstration

Most major news outlets are still reporting that a large opposition demonstration will go ahead at 16:00 Tehran time (12.30 London).

There is an air of foreboding about this following the remarks by the Supreme Leader of Iran that:

"The candidates in the election should be very careful what they say and how they behave," he said. "If they want to break the law, they will be responsible for the bloodshed, for the riots taking place and for any form of unrest."

Having had nothing to do with Iran in my life, my interest in this is simply a recognition that a growing number of Iranians want freedom. What passes for democracy in Iran seems anything but and the irony of a state that claims to be based on pious principles is that when an election does not deliver the result it wants, it seems more than willing to fix the result.

We can only hope that the people of Iran in some way prevail against the elite forces that seek to repress them. This may be an Iranian issue to be settled in Iran but it is a cause that all those who value freedom can relate to.

Here is a link to Zahra Rahnavard's facebook page. She is the wife of the opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi. The history of this man is far from spotless but if he recognises the need for greater freedom he is probably the best hope the people of Iran have.

My hope for today is that the forces of repression do not triumph. It is something that seems far from certain. Whatever happens today it is certain that the seeds of freedom have been sowed in Iran and the internet has taken a significant part in that. What harvest is reaped remains to be seen.

Twitter's moment ?

Up until now I have always been rather sceptical about the merits of Twitter. Who wants to know what X-celebrity is thinking at this moment or that Y is currently visiting Tescos ?!

However the uprisings in Iran may turn out to be Twitter's moment. Twitter offers the opportunity to distribute information, photos and videos in the most convenient way and people can do it from mobile phones and on the move.

The Iran Unrest Twazzup Twitter page is thoroughly recommended. It includes contributions from Iran and around the world and includes constantly updating advise on which proxy servers to use to evade the censors as well as collaboration on cyber attacks on Iranian government websites.

The outcome of these events is very far for certain but it seems that Twitter is offering a tool to the man in the street in the ongoing fights against big and repressive governments everywhere.

Ian Tomlinson Memorial March

This Saturday I attended a protest march from Bethnal Green Police Station to the Bank of England. The aim of the march was both to remember Ian Tomlinson who died after being pushed over and apparently hit by police during the G20 protests last week and to protest against the tactics of the Police that increasingly undermine Britain's status as a democracy that values the right of protest and free speech.

While it is safe to say that many of those on the march today were not my natural bedfellows, I found it a peaceful, dignified and rather moving event. The Police, to their credit, were low key and respectful and there was absolutely no trouble. Maybe something good can yet come out of these tragic events.

However the message from today was that a protestor is not a criminal and the right to peacefully protest in an unhindered manner is under threat in Britain. If this erosion of liberty goes unchallenged all Britons are on the road to living in a more repressive country. It may not be "your issue" to protest on today but in a country, and in fact a world, where decisions are increasingly made by executive order, it will probably not be long before each and everyone of us have an issue on which we want to protest on. While street protest is not everyone's style the increasing limitations of democracy (heavily controlled parliaments and legislatures that do not want to rock the boat) means that often it is only after a significant protest that the government actually sits up and listens.

May the right to peaceful protest and free speech once again be respected and better valued in this country.

ALL PHOTOS ENLARGE IF CLICKED.

One of the "dreaded" Police medics made infamous by this Flickr photo which yesterday made it to a national newspapers.

Press pack and amateurs stand outside Bethnal Green tube station as the protestors set off. The "citizen photographer" has lead the way on the whole issue of Police conduct and the attack on Ian Tomlinson. Without the widespread proliferation of mobile phone cameras and affordable digital cameras, the whole incident could have been swept under the carpet. These days a photo can be taken by a private individual and made freely available on the internet within minutes. When Ian Tomlinson died, the official version was he had collapsed and died of a heart attack but had had no contact with Police whatsoever. Alarmingly all mainstream media outlets (newspapers and TV) accepted this without challenge. Only when photos, written accounts and ultimately video emerged from private citizens did the mainstream media bother to investigate.

Market traders and locals await the protestors on Bethnal Green road. This is the heart of the East End and one of the most ethnically mixed areas in London.

Professor Chris Knight, one of the organisers of the original G-20 meltdown protests head the march. He strikes a slightly theatrical pose wearing a black top hat. The flowers are to lay at the spot Ian Tomlinson died.

The junction of Royal Exchange Passage and Cornhill where Ian Tomlinson was pushed to the ground by Police on 1st April.

Protestors in Cornill mingling near the spot Ian Tomlinson died.

The Police kept a respectful distance most of the time.

One strained moment occured when a two minutes silence was held. Officer CW 2553 (pictured) had a rather noisy Police radio and the chap in the football wooly hat told him to turn it down. Officer CW 2553 didn't like this and a tense exchange followed to be calmed by fellow protestors and police.

This sign on Cornhill, in the heart of the City of London, is just above the spot where Ian Tomlinson died.

Officers stand on Cornhill in front of Royal Exchange Passage. Their respectful calm behaviour is in great contrast to the riot gear wearing bullies who had walked down this passage with dogs just over a week before.

Where it all started last week, the Bank of England.

Police vans line up outside the RBS branch briefly attacked by anarchists on 1st April. The banking crisis is the underlying background to all this. People at large feel frustrated that there is no effective way to make their voices heard. The bail out is a fait accompli with no democratic vote on it. Taxpayers in Britain and the world over are funding the failures of bankers. There is a palpable sense of anger when people whose jobs and homes are at risk see bank bonuses and vast pensions subsidised by their taxes. No other bank has come to symbolise this injustice more than RBS, once a greatly respected Scottish institution.

Police motorcyclists on Threadneedle Street.

Protestors on Bishopsgate. "Socialist Worker" seems to have a monopoly on the banners supplied. I think it is a shame that no one other than an extreme left group can distribute good quality printed banners. After all, liberty is an issue that should attract the support of those on "the right" as well.

Protestors enter the City of London. The contrast between Bethnal Green and the City is immense. However they are really just neighbours and one stop on the underground.

Into the City.

Professor Chris Knight on the steps of Bethnal Green Police station where many of those arrested during the G20 summit were taken. This was not a part of London that Messrs. Obama, Sarkozy and co included on their itinerary !

Police Behaviour: Protest Today at Bethnal Green Police Station

In case anyone is looking for it, a protest is being held at Bethnal Green Police Station followed by a procession to the Bank of England to commemerate the death of Ian Tomlinson.

I feel it is important that people who disagree with the recent Police tactics and behaviour do make their voices known. After all, even those amongst us who are not "climate campers" and "anti-capitalists", will probably one day have things to protest about.

If every protest is to be "kettled" into an enclosed area surrounded by batton wielding riot police who beat anyone trying to get out, I would have to conclude that we no longer really live in a democracy that supports free speech and the right to protest.

Bethnal Green Police station can be found at the following address:


12 Victoria Park Square Tower Hamlets London E2 9NZ
Getting there: Tube station: Bethnal Green (Central)Main line : Cambridge Heath Railway

The protest is assembling at 11.30am following by a procession to the Bank of England at 12 noon. The procession is expected to take around an hour.

Further details can be found at:

http://protest.net/imcuk/calendrome.cgi?span=event&ID=1566683&state_values=

Police State ?

More evidence that the Metropolitan Police approach last week was far from cricket. The advise given to businesses in the City last week was the "Climate Camp" had permission to stay overnight. Obviously the Metropolitan Police had other ideas and in the clip below launch into a mixed crowd of men and women expecting to camp overnight. The police have battons and riot shields. The prospective campers do not:



"I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend to the death your right to say it"

Voltaire

"Kettling": Another step on road to ending free speech

The BBC and other news channels are now reporting that the man who died during last week's protests during the G20 summit had "contact" with the police before he died close to the Bank of England.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7986192.stm

This had previously been denied. It was claimed that he had just got caught up in the protest and then died of an unrelated heart attack.

Whatever is ultimately proved (or for that matter denied) the death of Ian Tomlinson highlights the recent police practice during large scale demonstrations of "kettling". "Kettling" is the term applied to the practice of blocking all protestors into an enclosed area so that they become exhausted. During their time in the "kettle" they have no opportunity to eat, drink, go to the lavatory or anything else that anyone would normally expect to be free to do.

Kettling can go on for many hours and last Wednesday protestors were kettled for at least 8 or 9 hours.

The aim of kettling is superficially understandable. It is used when the Police expect crowd disorder and is seen as more desirable than having potentially violent protestors running free in a city or built up area.

The trouble with kettling is it is being increasingly used for all large scale demonstrations and many people just wanting to make their voice heard get trapped for hours on end.

While I have little common cause with many of the protestors who turned out last week, they were in most cases relatively harmless. From what I saw they were generally either students or hippies. The anarchist "black bloc" who threatened violence were tiny in number.

Ironically the only serious piece of violence, the attack on the Royal Bank of Scotland branch, happened inside the kettle when Police couldn't reach those breaking windows at the Bank due to the fact there were so many trapped peaceful protestors between them and the handful of window breakers.

The Police increasingly seem to see large scale protests as a nuisance to be contained and thwarted wherever possible. There seems little appreciation that the right to protest, to speak out on an issue you feel strongly about is a democratic right.

In fact many of the wider population, also seem to look with a mixture of bemusement and contempt at protestors. They are written off as "work shy" or "troublemakers". This vast over-generalisation misses the point that most real political change (whether for better or worse) has come about only after campaigns that have involved a degree of public protest.

For protest to be increasingly limited on grounds of "public order" is a dangerous step on the road to a police state. The use of the "kettle" as a standard police response to any major public protest is a gross assault on liberty and the right to protest and speak out.

It can only be hoped that the death of an innocent man causes the Police to pause for thought the next time they kettle a large crowd into a confined space for hours on end, beating those who attempt to get out.

The widescale use of riot gear at last week's protests also highlights a hardening in the police approach. The protestors are seen as a threat to be controlled, beaten and frustrated wherever possible. While the minority bent on violence should be controlled and stopped, the great majority of peaceful protestors of whatever views should be respected when exercising their democratic right to protest.

G20 Day in the City of London

A Bank of England "heavy" stands at the steps to an entrance on Threadneedle Street.

Four female protestors discuss the day's events.

A statue boarded up had become an unofficial shrine to a man who died outside the Bank of England on Wednesday night. His cause of death remains unclear but many have questioned the controversial Metropolitan Police practice of "kettling" where protestors are herded into an enclosed placed for hours on end in order to exhaust them in a situation where they have no access to food, water, lavatories etc.

The Bank of England in the closing stages of the two days of protests. A few miles away in Docklands, the G20 leaders had just agreed a $ 1 Trillion stimulus package (I don't think I have ever needed to write "trillion" before)

The Duke of Wellington's statue with the addition of a a red flag. It is unclear what we can (yes) do !

Thoughtful graffiti on the Bank of England. Although not always true the statements are difficult to reject out of hand. Do the rich laugh though ?

City of London Police take a breather at the front of the Royal Exchange. They have been racking up the overtime this week.

Protestors and Police winding down.

The scene at the front of the Bank of England, Thurday April 2nd.

Winding down Police

Traffic had started flowing past the Bank of England by Thursday afternoon.

Shielded and helmeted riot police prepare to get a few teenagers out of an empty building near the City of London.

"Move along there. There's nothing to see !" Police block the road while their highly protected colleagues gather a few teenagers up.

"Older Bill"

The dark blue vehicle behind the police is more Amoured Personnel Carrier than Police Car. Who thought these would be necessary in London ? After all their effort the police have finally located a rather bemused looking teenager in a squat in Earl Street, EC2.

Commuters pass graffiti on the Bank of England on their way to work.

Pictures of April 1st City of London

Below is a selection of photos from the protests in the City of London yesterday. As I was at work during most of the day, these were taken in the evening. The low quality is due to the fact they were taken on a mobile phone camera. Nonetheless I think they give a flavour of the scenes around the City yesteray.

Protestors gather in Poultry, City of London

Crowded scene outside the Bank of England, 5.30pm Wednesday 1st April. Two hours later a man died in this area.

"Castle Greyskull" aka RBS HQ in Bishopsgate, City of London.

Anarchists and Police face each other in the approach to the Bank of England.

Police "centurion" overlooks the crowd near the Bank of England.

"Climate Campers" underneath Tower 42 (formerly the Natwest Tower).

A line of riot police. Anarchists wanted !

Chit chat. The lady on the left is dressed identically to her male colleague.

Not so much "bobbies on the beat" as "bobbies ready to beat". The uniform is both intimidating and dehumanising. British Police increasingly "don riotgear" when so much as a papercup gets thrown. While it can save lives, the use of riot gear should be proportionate to prevent ordinary people becoming alienated.

THe much reviled RBS is protected by a line of police. This very branch had been attacked round the corner by anarchists a few hours earlier.

A crowd is "kettled" (blocked in) outside the Bank of England.

"G20- Meltdown"

The world comes to London today. The leaders of 20 nations from the US President, King of Saudia Arabia, French President and many others are in town.

"Obamamania" means he is the focus.

Today it is billed as the day of protestors. Anarchists, class-warriors, enviromentalists and many others are forming unlikely alliances.

The City of London has lost its pinstripe suits in favour of jeans as no one wants to be mistaken for a banker and attacked. Jewellers and electrical shops are closed. Banks are half-closed but Starbucks is still open.

At 10.15 all is fairly quiet in Moorgate. I saw no protestors at 8am when I walked from Cannon Street. I did however see some mysterious middle-aged men with rucksacks and a long bag near the Bank of England. They had short hair in a miliatary style cut and "sensible" shoes. They were otherwise casually dressed. Were these police "snipers" getting in position that the Times mentioned this morning ?

It looks like it will be a memorable day.

Preparing for lockdown

Apologies for the long absence from here. I have been travelling on a rather long journey which was work related and took me from London to Hong Kong, to Shanghai then back to Hong Kong, back to London and out to Dubai and then finally to Abu Dhabi.

Three weeks were spent in a collection of taxis, planes, trains, hotels and offices. It was rather fun although I am not sure my wife would agree. ! I also learned that jetlag, in the broadest and least defined sense of the word, can be a scary thing that can suddenly catch up with you despite the best of intentions to the contrary.

Anyway I am now back in a London that has struggled to Springtime only to fall back to its wintery ways now that the clocks are about to go forward to summertime.

London is preparing for the G20 next week but more so it is preparing for protests. The protests are expected to focus on the City of London, the financial heart with the Bank of England at its centre. The "day of rage" is said to be Wednesday, April 1st or April Fools Day.

Maybe it is all going to turn out to be an April Fool. Britain has a long history of failed revolution after being one of the first countries to experience real revolution. It is so conservative at its core that it even after beheading its King, it is the nation that brought back its monachy.

After Karl Marx published the communist manifesto in London in 1848, the Chartist movement rallied and fear stalked the city that revolution was about to come to Britain. In actual fact the numbers of people who had joined up as special constables dwarfed the numbers who had come for revolution.

I suspect this April Fools Day will follow the same trend. Some of the protestors plan to storm banks and city institutions. However every office is now making plans similar to those being made in my office. It is officially "business as normal" but everyone is being instructed to come in dressed casually to avoid the small minority who want to "burn a banker".

It is difficult to imagine real political violence being turned on City workers. However in a time when the windows of former bank bosses are generally seen as fair game, no one can rule out that an extreme few will "push the envelope" out to doing something more radical.

A legion of private security guards is being hired to supplement the police. The battlelines on Wednesday are expected to be drawn first at the City railway stations- Moorgate, Liverpool Street, Cannon Street and London Bridge.

Whether self-conscious jean-wearing City workers will have to run a gauntlet of street fighting anarchists remains to be seen. I think it will be relatively peaceful although somewhere in the City the mandatory Starbucks looting will probably occur. Looting of a Starbucks seems a "tick the box" on all political protests these days. Rather bizarrely a Starbucks near the Israeli Embassy was looted when the protestors couldn't reach the Embassy during the last Gaza conflict.

My office has a group of ex-Ghurkhas acting as security guards so I suspect we stand a good chance of riding things out.

Nonetheless next week looks set to be quite a memorable week for London and the G20 and the travelling roadshow of protestors come to town.

San Francisco

The next Olympic torch protest is scheduled for tomorrow (April 9) in San Francisco.

This may be the biggest protest yet despite attempts to hide the route of the relay from those who want to protest (or indeed watch!)

Whatever happens tomorrow or in subsequent cities it is clear a point has been made.

China's record on human rights is known the world over. It cannot be a full part of the international community until it reforms. This is an issue far wider than Tibet and includes rights for all Chinese citizens, the absence of any recognition of wrongs committed in Tiananmen Square, the absence of any serious recognition of the deaths of 70 million people under Mao and the ongoing daily abuses such as the man recently sentenced to 5 years in prison for organising a petition in favour of human rights.

Many people's eyes have been opened or reopened by recent events. While China's power is enormous the genie is out of the bottle, at least outside China. Even China's cheap goods may find things a little harder. After all China is not the only asian country producing cheap goods. Countries such as Vietnam do this and India is an emerging great power that seems to manage economic growth while without feeling the need to carry out state sponsored murder and forced sterilisation of its minority populations.

Here's hoping San Francisco can remind the world a bit more tomorrow........

http://www.sftorch2008.org/

Running Free in Fleet Street 2

The Olympic convoy degenerates at the start of Fleet Street. Even the bells of St. Clement Danes church seem to be protesting.

Confusion further down Fleet Street as the torch is withdrawn and disappears onto a bus as protestors outnumber police and Chinese guards.

Further along the route on London Bridge, there were very few people either protestors or spectators. I snapped this London school boy awaiting the flame to light his torch. The policeman on the bike advised him to stand still when this happened as he would be "enveloped by police". When I called out "free Tibet" at the flame handover on London Bridge, a Metropolitan Police film unit lunged at me with a video camera. It seemed rather over-zealous. Someone had better tell them we have free speech in this country.

Running Free in Fleet Street

This was the scene when the Olympic flame procession seemed to break up as it left Aldwich and entered Fleet Street, the historic home of the British press. The bells of St. Clement Danes church can be heard ringing out as police and protestors run after the Olympic torch some way ahead. Then the buses carrying the Chinese Olympic delegation can be seen passing. The Chinese siting quietly on their buses in contrast to their rather brutal "Flame attendendant" cousins outside are almost from another world when confronted by Londoners running along the street in protest.

It was a surreal moment and not something I have ever seen in London before. What is also noteworthy is everyone is completely good natured and friendly.

The video is a little jumpy as I was running to keep up some of the time but I think it gives a real feeling of what the London Olympic torch relay was really like on Sunday.

A tale of two cities- united in purpose

The peaceful scene as pro-Tibetan protestors and some spectators gather ahead of the Olympic torch's arrival on Waterloo Bridge.

For the two hours or so yesterday that I followed the Olympic torch and protested at its symbolism, my impression was of a largely peaceful and well educated group of protestors. This was not a rent-a-mob but a group of people who really believed in the issue of Tibetan freedom and human rights for all Chinese. There is no doubt that many felt passionately about the abuses in Tibet and elsewhere and did not want London used as a PR opportunity by the Chinese Government. In preventing this there is no doubt that the protest succeeded.

In looking at this morning's papers the protest bought Tibet and its issues more coverage than any amount of advertising could offer.

The one surpising and disappointing aspect of the day was the heavy handed approach from some of the Metropolitan Police. This mainly seemed to consist of those who followed the flame rather than the ordinary police officers around the city.

The protestors ranged from families, to students all the way to pensioners. Whenever the torch approached the police officers bellowed "GET BACK" at anyone who expressed so much as a glimmer of interest in the torch. At one point a group of ladies, probably all in their seventies were bellowed at in this way.

Stories were heard, and repeated in today's papers of police telling people to remove "Free Tibet" t-shirts.

Aggressive filming of protestors occurred. At one point, I myself had a police video camera thrust towards me to record my face while I was walking along the pavement. The Metropolitan police seemed to want to give us a little taste of China.

All in all the policing aspect left a nasty taste in most people's mouths. There is no doubt the Metropolitan Police do a difficult job and there is no doubt that in the event of a major crisis such as the 7/7 bombs everyone would rally together. However in terms of routine events, the Police did themselves no favours in alienating and treating harshly largely peaceful protestors.

They showed no such bravado when dealing with Islamic protestors who paraded with slogans such as "Kill the unbelievers" last year. With a million pounds spent on overtime it would be nice to think that such a budget was also available to help local policiing rather than just protect the Chinese government's ego.

Also visible were the sinister "Flame Attendants" an entirely male group of minders dressed in blue and white track suits who followed the flame everywhere. These were like a Chinese private army who jostled protestors with free will and even shoved a person in Downing Street who could have only been there with police approval.

All in all my two hours on the protest were an amazing experience. There was a great sense of unity of purpose and a common belief that the charade of the torch relay was completely wrong given the circumstances of the Olympic host nation.

The fact that it had to protected by police and Chinese guards at every stage gave the lie to this being a popular event.

As I walked back through the "City of London" I passed entirely empty streets that the Torch was supposed to travel down in minutes. Very few ordinary spectators had turned out. On London Bridge the relay runners' bus dropped a school boy in position to pick up the flame. A police officer advised him that when the flame arrived he was to stand still as he was to be "enveloped by Police". That was the day - one enveloped by Police.

Only briefly in Fleet Street was there a real sense of joy when demonstrators seemed to briefly out number and out manouvre the police and Torch procession. At this point the Flame was retired onto a bus much to the cheers and the boos of the crowd. People in coffee shops looked on at the spectacle unfolding.

Today in Paris the Torch ceremony was cancelled and the flame had to be extinguished several times due to protestors. In San Francisco, the next City to see the Torch a protest on the Golden Gate Bridge has already started.

All over the world the message is clear. Despite China's economic power and long and often distinguished history people have serious reservations and concerns about its treatment of Tibet and human rights in general. People in London, Paris, San Francisco and beyond do not want their cities used as a stage to promote a nasty regime that cares little for human rights.

While we may not be able to change what happens in China we can at least show our feelings when the Beijing PR machine visits our home cities. That is a cause that even unites London and Paris !

The Olympic Torch arrives in Downing Street

While Gordon Brown was "welcoming" the Torch in Downing Street today this was the scene outside in Whitehall as the Torch and Olympic delegation were universally "booed" by a large crowd of protestors holding Tibetan flags.



Further photos and clips to follow....

Tibet comes to Westminster

Last post for a little bit.

Just saw that there has this morning been a protest under Westminster Bridge.

This clip shows what happened when protestors unfurled a "Free Tibet" banner next to the Houses of Parliament. A reminder of what a relatively free city we live in:

The Start of the worldwide Olympic flame protest ?

This was the scene at Olympia, Greece, this morning where a pro-Tibet protestor made it within feet of the Chinese Olympic president. The brief scene was apparently shown live on Chinese TV until the camera quickly cut away.