Demonstrating In The City
We’ve started getting emails giving us advanced warnings of the planned demonstrations that will be taking place this Saturday (28th March) and next week (1st/2nd April) here in the City. I get the impression from their tone that they are expecting quite a lot of trouble.
While I have a lot of sympathy with the views of the protesters they really have come to the wrong place as the square mile is for the most part an administration centre and even if you could prevent things happening here the clients would only go elsewhere and nothing would materially change for the planet. Just Britain would be poorer. Really changing the world requires a lot more dedication and hard work than shouting at white men in suits and smashing street furniture. However, if these silly kids want to come and waste their time then we will be waiting… and I’ve been working-out, a lot.
When 35 Greenpeace protesters stormed the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) yesterday they had planned the operation in great detail.
What they were not prepared for was the post-prandial aggression of oil traders who kicked and punched them back on to the pavement.
“We bit off more than we could chew. They were just Cockney barrow boy spivs. Total thugs,” one protester said, rubbing his bruised skull. “I’ve never seen anyone less amenable to listening to our point of view.”
Another said: “I took on a Texan Swat team at Esso last year and they were angels compared with this lot.” Behind him, on the balcony of the pub opposite the IPE, a bleary-eyed trader, pint in hand, yelled: “Sod off, Swampy.” [Link]
Update : The Proper Way To Respond To G20 Protesters (Here Is The City)
The premise behind the march and demo on 28th, is to send a message “Put the People First” to the world leaders ahead of the G20 summit. The demonstration and the thoughts of the people taking part will get wide media publicity.
The downside is that certain ‘elements of society’ will jump on the bandwagon and turn up just to cause trouble at what is supposed to be peaceful demonstration and statement!
I will be in London on Saturday but I already have a prior engagement, so I won’t be part of the demo
I think its pretty much a given that it will be these “elements of society” that will be receiving most of the publicity but I’d also add that on this occasion in particular it is quite likely that this element will be quite substantially enhanced with paid stooges to ensure that this is the case. Too much is at stake to leave it to chance.
There is a good reason why the G20 is not being held in New York and I expect Gordon Brown will be receiving his reward for the part he has played in this.
The people are despised by the new elite and if we want respect from them it will only be through fear now, so I’d forget all that anachronistic “send a message” stuff. Nobody will be listening.
You would be quite surprised as to how much they do listen… Not that listening makes a difference.
I do have some experience of this listening without hearing that the political classes have elevated toward art-form.
You guys get all the fun in London, it’s not fair. We’ve got loads of big taxpayer bailed-out banking offices in Bristol and a good number of wobbly insurance companies to boot, yet all we ever get here in the way of lefty protests is a few middle-aged saddos asking us to beep our horns for Gaza.
Having said that I don’t miss the size of the rents, the parking situation or the crummy little Tesco corner-stores with no decent beer on offer.
Who do you reckons going to pay the trouble-makers anyway? I’d always assumed the trouble-makers were skint squatter types, am I wrong to jump to this conclusion?
From Douglas Carswell MP’s blog :
The way the BBC reports it, you wouldn’t think that some of the demonstrations in London this week are in fact orchestrated by state-funded agencies.
But today’s March – a precursor to the disruption expected later in the week – is in part paid for by … err … you.
Look at the hodge podge of unaccountable quangos behind today’s protests. Dig about on Google, and you’ll see many receive the bulk of their funding from – to quote one – “official bodies and international agencies, including the EU, UK government, USAID, UN, World Bank”.
This leftist, anti-free market, anti-capitalist agenda is being paid for by you. And no one asked you.
I’m happy to have my taxes go to pay for the police. Spare a thought for them, as they try to keep order this week. Yet the perverse morality of our quango state means that if there were to be a confrontation, your taxes could end-up funding both the good guys (the police) and the bad.
Post-prandial aggression – like that one.