The Climate Camp returns to the City

Some will be pleased and others will groan at the news that the Climate Camp, which set up on Bishopsgate at the same time as the G20 protests earlier this year, will be returning to an undisclosed location in the City in the “Summer Swoop”. It’s all due to happen between the 27th of August and the 2nd of September, August Bank Holiday to you and me, and they’re being coy about the arrangements other than to follow them online.

Check your diary. Book the week off work. Whether you come for the whole camp, or can only come for a day, make sure you don’t miss it! This year we will set up the camp together, with a mass swoop of people taking the site. Get down to London on the day before camp on 26 August and be ready for the action to start at any time. Join us on facebook and sign up to twitter and text updates to make sure you stay informed about plans.

I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about this before the day so check back for updates as I’ll be keeping my ear to the ground.

Climate Camp
http://climatecamp.org.uk

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 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 - 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.

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/