Calm in the City

Well, mostly calm. There were two workers cleaning a statue on Bank junction when I came in this morning and apparently there was a demo up on Bishopsgate but the general feeling seems to be that people are glad it’s over and now we can get back to worrying about work instead.

Last night’s scuffles were interesting as they didn’t feature on the TV or news that I noticed and when I phoned the office to give them a report they were surprised. That may partly be because a core of protesters had been kettled in at the Royal Exchange where the TV crews were based across the road waiting for something to happen, away from the other action in Lothbury. As it was the TV crews were too far away to get any broadcastable pictures so the whole thing went unreported.

G20 Protest Update - Early Afternoon Day 2

There’s some tension in the air around Bank if you care to feel it. Police are stopping and searching anyone who looks too suspicious for their liking and the police I spoke to didn’t think it was all over just yet. The police helicopter was just hovering over the Liverpool Street area but it seems unlikely that we’ll see anything on the scale of yesterday as the protesters don’t seem to be that organised, particularly when contrasted with the police.

At 1pm there was a short ceremony to remember the man who died during the protests yesterday, who was himself a protester. The circumstances surrounding his death will no doubt be examined over the coming days but I hope it won’t turn into a political football. Just around the corner police horses were lined up in front of the boarded-up windows of the RBS building (picture top) which was attacked by protesters yesterday and you can find pictures for this and more on my Flickr page and Twitter updates (right)

City Blog Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/moorgatemercurius/

G20 Protests Update - Lunchtime Day 2

The “Youth Fight for Jobs” protest is apparently 200 strong and complying with the police. Having gathered south of the river they are now going to make their way into the City and may even be there by now. I’m going to head out shortly to have a look.

There’s also talk of a slow march from Bishopsgate to Bank as a mark of respect for the person who died during the protests yesterday

Police attacked as they helped dying protester
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/G20/article6020028.ece

G20 Protests Update - The 2nd Morning

Quite a day yesterday. After my last blog post I headed off through the Climate Camp and then on to Bank. The police had it pretty well sealed off but had missed one side street that enabled me to get in between the two police lines on Queen Victoria Street with a number of other people and journalists at the time when the police were pushing the protesters back towards Bank. Every time the police moved forward the crowd reacted and broken bottles littered the streets with the occasional sign of blood. I saw some protesters being treated for injuries incurred in the scuffles, as much through so-called friendly fire as anything. Word to the wise. If you’re going to throw a bottle from five or ten rows back then your chances are slim of hitting the two or three rows of police. It’s much more likely that it’s either going to sail over their heads or catch one of your fellow protesters in the back of the head… as I saw yesterday.

This morning’s 7am demo at the Stock Exchange turned out to be about ten people and a Monopoly board made out of carpet. 200-300 police around the area made sure that there were going to be no surprises and even the journalists outnumbered the protesters.

It’s unlikely the City will see anything like the disorder and disruption of yesterday again today as the focus will be on Docklands and the Excel Centre but if anything happens I’ll keep you posted.

Check out my photos on Flickr or view the slideshow on the right-hand side, and have a look at my Youtube vids.

City Blog Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/moorgatemercurius/

City Blog Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/thecityblog

Lunchtime drama in the City

He sits in his suit and coat on the bench with his dark hair ruffled by the breeze, takes a sandwich from the clingfilm wrapper before briefly examining it, then bites into it. She sits next to him with watery eyes, face inches from his, and she talks quickly with her hands trying to make up for what her words can’t convey. She stops. He utters a few words and she becomes even more animated, the wider gestures causing her long black hair to sway more dramatically with her hands tracing patterns in the air while he gazes off into space, grazing on his sandwich. A few more words from him and she leaps to her feet and walks away with tears flowing down her olive skin, but not too far though and after a minute he puts down his sandwich, stands up and walks across to put an arm around her while she stands as cold as ice, not responding to his touch. They return to the bench, she to talking and gesticulating and he progresses to removing the top from a yoghurt and producing a spoon from a bag, all the while behaving as though nothing at all untoward was going on.

She looks at her watch. They leave.

Just another lunchtime drama played out in front of the City audience. Me? I’d have slapped him.