G20 Meltdown – First Signs of Tensions

As the number of protestors in the City today increases, there has been the first sign of trouble with pushing and shoving between them and the line of policemen they have come up against. Four protest marches are coming from four seperate tube stations and beginning to congregate at the Bank of England in Threadneedle Street. Chants of “Shame on you” and “Revolution!” have filled the air.

 
Follow the events today on our City of London blog and Twitter feed.

G20 Protests Update – Early Morning

The sun has risen brightly over the City today with barriers and the statue boarded up at Bank, which is due to be the hub of the G20 Meltdown protest at lunchtime. 9am is due to see the Critical Mass cycle ride from Bank but I’m not anticipating much, if any, trouble from that. Carphone Warehouse are expecting trouble though and have boarded up their shop by Moorgate station, where one of the four prongs of the G20 Meltdown march is due to congregate from 11am.

I hope to be out and about in a while bringing news and pictures but in the meantime if you’re in the City and have a copy of the Metro look for the excellent April Fool adverts from BMW and Waitrose.

Squaring up to the Square Mile

Well, the big day dawns tomorrow with the G20 protestors due in force. There was a small protest this morning down by the Bank of England which passed peacefully but I doubt that anybody’s going to lay a bet on tomorrow’s protests being trouble-free.

The Police have issued advice to City businesses and workers as to how to best protect themselves but if I have one thing to add it would be to plan a couple of other alternative routes home should it all kick off and your normal route home be closed. Seeing as I normally go to Bank Station I got my plans already laid.

If you want to know whether your office is likely to be targeted then Indymedia have a handy map which shows the locations of prominent companies and places. Mine’s on there so I’ll be stocking up on pepper spray to keep the oiks away from my snack drawer (i.e. another normal day in the office).

I hope to be out and about bringing you some photos and updates as long as we’re not barricaded in!

City of London Police G20 Protest Advice
http://www.cityoflondon.police.uk/CityPolice/Advice/BusinessAdvice/g20advice.htm

G20 Protest Map
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/03/425202.html

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/

Don’t be an April Fool

Another year, another set of protests. This time assorted groups, led by the Climate Camp, are going to disrupt the City on 1st April to make their assorted points on the eve of the G20 group meeting. It’s not 100% clear at this time whether some fringe groups may abuse this as an opportunity for further disorder but at the very least there’ll be some disruption as Bishopsgate and the Bank of England are already mentioned as targets.

In the past our company has recommended that staff come in dressed in casuals to avoid the eggs and flour that greeted some City folks at mainline stations in the past so you may want to start thinking about your options, particularly if you have an office full of staff to manage.

If you want to join the protestors, or any police and professional security people pretending to be protestors, or instead avoid the whole lot entirely then probably your best option  is to keep an eye on the following sites for information in the run-up to the day.

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/

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