The battle of Trafalgar

heraldscotland.com

27 Mar 2011

IT WAS THE BIGGEST DEMONSTRATION SEEN FOR YEARS. HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS UNITED IN PROTEST AGAINST THE COALITION GOVERNMENT’S SWINGEING CUTS. BUT THE MESSAGE WAS UNDERMINED BY THE MINDLESS VIOLENCE OF A MINORITY EYEWITNESS REPORT BY VICKY ALLAN

Trafalgar Square was in chaos last night as protesters clashed with police following one of the biggest demonstrations in British political history.

As darkness fell, police kettled hundreds of demonstrators at the foot of Nelson’s Column. The tension came at the end of a day already marred by violence from a small minority of anarchists who attacked shops, smashed windows, tried to steal from ATM machines, lit fires in the street, and threw smoke and paint bombs at police.

The riot squad fought with activists in Trafalgar Square who threw bottles at police and lit fires in the street. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said between 200 and 300 people had gathered at the landmark location late in the evening: “A large number from the crowd are throwing missiles and have attempted to damage the Olympic clock … Officers have come under sustained attack as they deal with the disorder and attempted criminal damage.”

The scenes were in stark contrast to the behaviour of not only the vast majority of protesters – who ranged in age from babies to pensioners – but also the majority of both students and anarchists who were demanding no more cuts to the public sector.

Yesterday’s demonstration will go down as one of the biggest political rallies in British history. It was the largest protest since the Iraq War in 2003. Around 400,000 people joined the TUC organised march. Before night fell and the area around Trafalgar Square turned ugly, the arrest and injury tally was “reasonable”: 202 arrests and 35 injured, including five police officers.

The protest organisers hailed the demonstration a “fantastic success”, despite the violence.

Violence first flared away from the main rally when a group of hundreds of activists, not connected with the TUC union protest, clashed with police, setting off fireworks and attacking shops in Oxford Street, Regent Street and Piccadilly.

The trouble unfolded as Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, addressed the crowds at the end of the rally in Hyde Park. “The Tories said I should not come and speak today,” he said. “But I am proud to stand with you. There is an alternative.”

Miliband last night condemned the violence that erupted away from the march, saying: “Hundreds of thousands of people peacefully protested today. They are the true voice of today’s march. I unequivocally condemn those who have committed acts of violence. There is no excuse for it. It is unlawful and wrong.”

As he spoke, Topshop and HSBC had their windows smashed, while paint and glass bottles were thrown at a Royal Bank of Scotland branch. Anarchists also attacked the Ritz hotel.

Covering their faces with scarves, anarchists fought with police and disrupted traffic, throwing lightbulbs filled with ammonia at officers and lighting fires.

UK Uncut, an anti-cuts direct action group, later occupied the Fortnum & Mason store in Piccadilly, claiming the firm had “dodged” paying taxes.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said he “bitterly regretted” the violence, adding that he hoped it would not detract from the massive anti-cuts protest in Hyde Park.

He said: “I don’t think the activities of a few hundred people should take the focus away from the hundreds of thousands of people who have sent a powerful message to the Government today. This has been Middle Britain speaking.”

Barber said unions would now step up pressure on the Government and launch a series of protests next week in defence of the NHS.”

Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, attacked the Government’s “assault” on the NHS, warning ministers that privatising the health service would spark the same protests as those against the poll tax.

Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, said the turnout showed the anger of ordinary working people at the Government’s cuts. “These are ordinary families and working people, many here with their children to send a strong message to David Cameron to halt the damaging cuts which are leading to the loss of tens of thousands of jobs and the closure of services,” he said.

Demonstrators started arriving in London hours before the march was due to begin, turning the Embankment into a sea of colour with banners, balloons and entertainers filling the banks of the Thames.

Tens of thousands of people blew horns and whistles as they waited patiently to march through central London. In total, only a few hundred were intent on causing trouble. Read more…

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls was heckled by some protesters when he turned up to speak to union leaders.

Education Secretary Michael Gove acknowledged the public concerns about the planned cuts but insisted that the Government would not be deflected from its strategy.

He said that there were “really big dangers” for Miliband in addressing the rally at the end of the march. “One is that people will say ‘You are calling for a plan B from the Government, you don’t even have a plan A’,” he said.

“More than that, you are associating yourself with a march which could, I’m afraid, move from being a family event into being something darker.”

Before the trouble flared at night, Scotland Yard Commander Bob Broadhurst said: “The main TUC march has been going well. We have had more

Protesters run riot as violence erupts on London’s streets

smh.com.au

Several hundred masked protesters clashed with police, attacked shops and occupied a top store in London after hundreds of thousands of people rallied against government austerity measures.

About 4500 police officers struggled to control escalating violence on Saturday in the British capital’s main shopping district, where a breakaway group of demonstrators went on the rampage.

The unrest overshadowed a peaceful march earlier in the day of up to 300,000 protesters against harsh public spending cuts introduced by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government.

Clad in black and covering their faces with scarves, the protesters clashed with police, hurling fireworks, petrol bombs and paint.

Clothes store Topshop and bank HSBC had their windows smashed, while some protesters hurled missiles at London’s landmark Ritz Hotel. Others lit a bonfire at Oxford Circus, in the heart of the shopping district.

UK Uncut, a group running a campaign against government cuts and corporate tax avoidance, said it had occupied luxury department store Fortnum & Mason in the shopping district. They accused the owners of tax-dodging.

Five police officers were injured, with one being taken to hospital, Scotland Yard said. Twenty-eight members of the public were injured over the course of the day and seven were taken to hospital, police said. Read more ...

AFP

Heurts à Londres pendant la manifestation anti-austérité

lexpress.fr

26/03/2011

Des manifestants ont affronté la police et brisé des vitrines samedi dans le centre de Londres, où des dizaines de milliers de Britanniques défilaient pour dénoncer la politique d’austérité du gouvernement.

La police redoutait que ce rassemblement ne dégénère à l’instar de ce qui s’est produit en décembre dernier lorsque des manifestations étudiantes contre la hausse des frais universitaires ont provoqué les pires émeutes que Londres ait connues en plusieurs décennies.

Des groupes de « casseurs » vêtus de noir et le visage masqué ont lancé des pétards et des fumigènes avant de pénétrer de force dans une agence de la banque HSBC. Ils ont également brisé les vitrines d’un restaurant McDonald’s, d’un magasin et d’une autre agence bancaire.

Les syndicats ont affirmé que le rassemblement contre la politique d’austérité avait rassemblé bien plus de 250.000 personnes, ce qui en ferait la plus importante manifestation dans la capitale britannique depuis les marches de 2003 contre la guerre en Irak.

Quelque 4.500 policiers, certains en tenue anti-émeute, avaient été mobilisés et les organisateurs avaient également déployé un service d’ordre de plusieurs centaines de membres.

Le dirigeant du Parti travailliste, Ed Miliband, prenant la parole à Hyde Park, a salué la mobilisation.

« Nous nous battons pour préserver, protéger et défendre ce que nous avons de mieux, ce qui représente ce que nous avons de mieux dans ce pays que nous aimons« , a-t-il dit.

Les manifestants protestaient contre les coupes claires dans les dépenses de l’Etat, les réductions d’emplois dans la fonction publique, les augmentations d’impôts et la réforme des retraites annoncés par le gouvernement de David Cameron, qui réunit conservateurs et libéraux.

Le vice-Premier ministre Nick Clegg (libéral-démocrate), partenaire des Tories au sein de la coalition gouvernementale, a déclaré que les manifestants anti-austérité se devaient d’expliquer quelles solutions ils proposaient pour réduire le déficit budgétaire de l’Etat. Lire la suite…

Par Reuters

~ par Alain Bertho sur 26 mars 2011.

Publié dans émeutes, riots