A ‘Q word day’ of London protest

Chris Hobbs follows the latest series of London protests in which Specials were able to take some pressure off their regular colleagues.

The sight of a group of Met Special Constables relieving pressure on their regular colleagues by policing yet another protest would have been a welcome one for Met commanders.

The protest, which began at the BBC, concerned the dreadful situation in Sudan but appeared, from the chants, to be as equally concerned with events in Gaza. As the march was assembling, another appeared from the direction of Regents Park. It was, arguably, the most orderly and, in terms of dress, the smartest protest that I have ever witnessed.

The protesters belonged to Falun Gong, a religious movement banned in China and the objective of the march concerned the persecution the group have suffered in that country and elsewhere. Interestingly, those present for the Sudan march, took little notice as the march sedately passed them by complete with gentle rhythmic music.

The Sudanese protest, numbered about 200 and, complete with drummers, remained on the footway unless otherwise directed by officers present when crossing roads and junctions.

Whitehall and a rally

They reached Whitehall without incident and their appearance, complete with the above-mentioned drums, sent the cavalry at Horse Guards temporarily away from their posts. Clearly no risks were being taken after the consequences of the recent stampede.

The character of this march was somewhat different from the static Whitehall protest which I witnessed several years ago. Then, it consisted almost entirely of members from the Sudanese community complete with families and young children who were content with singing songs. On that occasion they were menaced by far-right protesters who had made their way from Portland Place. Police intervened and there were several arrests. The Sudanese kept on singing though.

This day’s march and Whitehall rally consisted, in the main, of activists with, as stated above, the issue of Gaza also prevalent. The march was well policed with good cooperation between officers and the marchers. My suggestion on ‘X’ that Gold might wish to extend a thank you to the Specials by virtue of a cake shop in the Haymarket, alas fell on stony ground.

Youth Demand ‘action’

The next protest of the day was, unusually for a Saturday, due to commence at Jubilee Gardens by the London Eye, at 5.30PM. It was called by Youth Demand, an offspring of Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion and again focussed on the situation in Gaza.

There was a significant police presence and after the usual speeches, around 200 protesters set off along the South Bank before crossing Waterloo Bridge. As they crossed the bridge, events went slightly awry as they blocked one side of the road. At the far end an additional, smaller group of protesters gathered and began walking across the bridge lighting flares as they advanced. It all looked, to passers-by, quite dramatic.

At the far end of the bridge a formidable looking police cordon was established and members of the public were held behind that cordon. Completing their crossing of the bridge, they were allowed through.

Meanwhile, on the bridge, the 200 plus they had now met up with, were being corralled on the footway by police; traffic began to flow and members of the public were allowed to resume crossing.

Whatever ambitions the marchers had hoped to achieve, had clearly been frustrated and they went into reverse, returning to the Southbank and then again attracting the attention of the crowds enjoying a warm spring evening. At one stage, an angry man confronted a section of the protesters shouting that he and his partner were gay and if they travelled to Palestine, they would be killed due to their sexuality.

The protesters eventually ended up back in Jubilee Gardens; the South Bank crowds had seemed intrigued by their presence and mobile phones were produced by the dozen recording events.

After some more chanting and speeches, the event was over. The organisers had stated that for participants, this was ‘medium risk,’ in terms of potential arrest and that some sort of ‘action,’ would occur. It could be that the policing of the event frustrated whatever was planned but, in any event, it was concluded without any significant incident. Speculation that the ‘action’ may be linked to the controversial Eurovision song contest proved unfounded.

Apart from a short period of ‘bridge blocking,’ the only other issue of some interest were short lived chants that featured the word, ‘intifada.’

While this day may not have presented any undue challenges to the Met, all officers are now very much aware of the significant challenge that awaits them in less than three weeks’ time.

Chris Hobbs is a former Special Branch officer who follows large public order events as an observer for Police Oracle.

Category: OpsPublic Order