Police stretched for upcoming protests.

 

You may remember that nearly a month ago I let you know about the upcoming April 1st protests in the City and it seems that this week the press have caught onto the idea with gusto! The Evening Standard is spouting a mixture of fact and hyperbole though other sources are being more sanguine with The Times reporting Commander Bob Broadhurst of the Metropolitan Police as saying:
“We are seeing unprecedented planning among protest groups. Some of the groups of the late 90s are coming back to the fore and there is a coming together of anarchists, anti-globalisation groups and environmentalists. They are plotting and planning what they are going to do and the picture is changing almost every minute. They have some very clever people and their intention on April 1 is to stop the City.”

There are now three protests planned on April 1st:
The G20 Meltdown protest starts at 11am with four groups starting at Cannon Street, Liverpool Street, London Bridge and Moorgate and then marching to the Bank of England at 12 noon.
At 12.30 The Climate Camp starts outside 62 Bishopsgate and lasts for 24 hours.
At 2.30pm Stop The War and various other groups congregate outside the US Embassy in the West End.

Obviously this is going to be a big stretch for the Police so if you work in the City you ought to find out what your company’s response is going to be and you need to think about what contingency plans you may need to have to get home if it all goes pear-shaped.

Met: G20 protesters will stretch us to our limit
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5946908.ece

Climate Camp 09
http://www.climatecamp.org.uk/g20

G20 Meltdown at the Bank of England
http://www.g-20meltdown.org/

Fossil Fools Day
http://www.fossilfoolsdayofaction.org/

City of London Police
http://www.cityoflondon.police.uk/

Metropolitan Police
http://www.met.police.uk/