2009-04-01

Police and protesters clash ahead of London summit

The worst of the unrest occurred earlier when a group of 4,000 protesters were confronted by police cordons on Threadneedle Street outside a branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland, where a number of windows were broken and some protesters broke into the bank.

A printer and other office equipment were thrown out of a window of the bank and graffiti daubed on the side of the building. Scotland Yard said its officers had been forced to enter the RBS building to disperse the protesters. Police confirmed that 24 arrests have been made overall.

Metropolitan Police Commander Simon O’Brien warned that some of those involved in violent disorder are being monitored by police and face arrest as they move around the city this evening.

Speaking at New Scotland Yard tonight, the senior officer said post incident investigations are already under way against those involved in the attack on a branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), criminal damage and assaults on police.

He said small pockets of criminals were responsible for the outbreaks of trouble while the vast majority of participants were good humoured.

Earlier, city workers waved £10 notes at protesters as thousands descended on London’s financial district. Bankers leaning out of office windows taunted demonstrators on the streets below, who responded with jeers and shouts.

Thousands of officers shepherded protesters carrying banners proclaiming “Balls to the Banks” and “Punish the looters” and carrying effigies of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Businesses surrounding the Bank were boarded up and dozens of officers guarded each entrance as the protesters congregated outside.

Police said they had staged one of Britain's biggest security operations to protect businesses, the Bank of England, the London Stock Exchange and other financial institutions.

Police stopped a military-style armoured vehicle with the word "RIOT" printed on the front. A police spokesman said its 11 occupants were arrested for having fake police uniforms.

The protests, which brought together environmentalists, anti-war campaigners and others, were meant to mark what demonstrators called "Financial Fools' Day" - a reference to April fool's day which falls on April 1st.

Protesters carried a man-sized yellow bird on a stretcher to symbolise the death of London's second financial district

Canary Wharf and waved banners saying "Capitalism isn't working".

World leaders are meeting under intense pressure to produce a morale-boosting response to the worst economic downturn seen since the 1930s.

Many city workers were urged to dress down so as not to draw the attention of some protesters believed to be intent on targeting those working in the financial sector.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned protesters that violence and intimidation will not be tolerated.

The presence of Chinese president Hu Jintao at the summit has prompted a 24-hour hunger strike and candlelit vigil by Free Tibet demonstrators.

Tonight, thousands of football fans will add to the mix as they pour into the city as England take on Ukraine at Wembley. Gordon Brown has warned that police would act “very quickly” to protect people or property under threat.

He said: “No violence can be tolerated, no intimidation of people is allowed, and the police will act very quickly if there is any threat to property or people.”

Planned protests

Today:

- 11am: G20 Meltdown will lead four carnival parades into the City from tube stations at Moorgate, Liverpool Street, London Bridge and Cannon Street. Effigies of the “four horsemen of the apocalypse” will head the parades, representing war, climate chaos, financial crimes and land enclosures. G20 Meltdown, a new group created especially to organise actions around G20, is calling for the overthrow of capitalism.

- 12pm: G20 Meltdown promises to “thrust into the very belly of the beast” when the parades converge on the Bank of England. The group says it will reclaim the streets using “merriment, mirth and the love in our hearts”. Organisers are asking participants to bring, food, water, tea making facilities, something to sit on, and — for those planning to stay late — a tent.

- 12.30pm: Climate Camp will converge on the European Climate Exchange in Bishopsgate. The organisation plans to “swoop” from different directions and advises those who want to take part to meet with friends. They “may even want to practice beforehand”, it says. People are being told to bring pop-up tents, sleeping bags, wind turbines, action plans and ideas.

- 2pm: The Stop the War Coalition will hold a rally outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square. On US President Barack Obama’s first visit to Britain, the group is demanding, among other things, troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, nuclear disarmament and a free Palestine.

- 4pm onwards: The Alternative London Summit at the University of East London, Docklands. The alternative summit will start a day before the official summit opens at the ExCel nearby. Speakers include Tony Benn, film director Ken Loach, former mayor Ken Livingstone, Labour MP John McDonnell and Green party leader Caroline Lucas. The university has said it is pulling out of hosting the event but organisers have said they still plan to use the campus.

- 6pm The Campaign Against Climate Change will mark Fossil Fools’ Day by carrying a giant block of ice to the ExCel centre where it will hold a rally. The environmental activists say the race against climate catastrophe is being lost. They are asking supporters to bring their own smaller blocks of ice and to dress in white. The protest aims to highlight the fact that polar ice is melting much faster than scientists thought, and to produce a visual image of the need for urgent action from the G20.

Tomorrow:

- Early hours: G20 Meltdown says it is planning to bang on hotel doors at the ExCel centre or keep delegates awake in some way.

- 7am: G20 Meltdown are planning to disrupt trading at the Stock Exchange with a giant game of Monopoly featuring “backhanders, piggybacking, back-stabbing, swindles and scams”.

- 9am: A Youth March for Jobs sets off from Camberwell Green on route to the ExCel centre, via the Bank of England.

- 11am: Stop the War Coalition will gather at Canning Town for a march to the ExCel centre and is asking protestors to bring “shoes, baby dolls, photos and other symbols of the death and destruction wreaked by the world’s leaders”.

Several groups will converge on ExCel to hold actions throughout the day.

Source: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0401/breaking25.html?via=mr