Eyewitness: world events, London’s public order, a religious procession and a fire

Chris Hobbs follows a number of protests including a threatened 'day of action' by Youth Demand, billed to 'bring London to a halt' but which in the end attracted only a handful of activists.

It is, of course, not unusual, to see events across the world manifest themselves on the streets of London in the form of what are termed ‘public order’ events.

Saturday was no exception and, with the world transfixed on the United States and decisions being made by its President. ‘Hands-off” anti-Trump protests were to take place across the United States and in many countries of the world. In the United Kingdom there were some fairly oblique references on social media to a gathering in Trafalgar Square but it all seemed rather nebulous and indeed officers performing ‘aid’ duties in central London were unsure what might occur, if anything.

In the event, a very respectable crowd of around a thousand gradually materialised to the left of the National Gallery building. Home-made placards abounded, many of which were refreshingly creative and those attending were a combination of US citizens and ‘Brits;’ the majority of whom appeared to be female.

It was a passionate but good- natured protest which didn’t trouble the patrolling officers at all. Indeed, their most arduous duty in Trafalgar Square was to pose with tourists for photographs.

A busy Trafalgar Square

The actions of Donald Trump however didn’t dominate events at this iconic location. A short distance away, another gathering was assembling, again directed against a President, but this was the head of state for Turkey, President Erdogan. Massive protests against the President in Turkey have been ongoing for some time while the actions of the police in curbing those protests would, if replicated here, rapidly exhaust the capabilities of the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

Last month, the Met were caught unawares when a large Turkish protest materialised in Whitehall and, for a while, disrupted the pre-arranged filming of a Jack Reacher film. The protesters, like their Ukrainian counterparts and British farmers, have, however, acquired the reputation of being well behaved and cooperative.

Two other smaller protests were also taking place in Trafalgar Square; a poignant protest against the Iranian regime can be found at this location on most Saturdays. It consists of an exhibition showing photographs of dozens of individuals who have perished at the hands of the Iranian authorities; many victims shown are young women.

Another, even smaller static protest could be seen which was directed against the Chinese government. This involved a religious spiritual movement known as Falun Gong who are subject to alleged persecution by the Chinese government.

A day of action that wasn’t

The day however, had begun at the unusually early time of 11am. The pro-Palestinian group Youth Demand, an offshoot of Just Stop Oil, had stated that this was to be a ‘day of action’ with an initial gathering in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. This normally involves he disruption of traffic.

A previous similar day of action split into small groups and made off in different directions followed by equally small groups of police in a scenario akin to a game of cat and mouse.

Just days previously however, the Met featured in unwelcome headlines when officers ‘raided’ a Quaker Meeting House in Westminster. This sparked indignation ‘across the board’ from those on both the left and right of the political spectrum. As is so often the case, buried in the body of the numerous articles beneath the headlines, was the real reason for the police operation; namely that a planning meeting was being held by Youth Demand in order to ‘bring London to a halt.’

As is often the case with what are termed ‘click bait headlines,’ many would never read beyond those headlines and ascertain for themselves the reasoning behind the forcible entry into the premises and subsequent arrests. Indeed, it was almost amusing to see far-right activists, who had previously criticised the ‘soft, two- tier policing’ of pro-Palestinian protests, condemn this operation having clearly not read the full circumstance of exactly what had occurred.

Youth Demand still, however, advertised their day of action for Saturday and a number of police officers were deployed in and around Lincoln’s Inn Fields. In the event, around 20 activists materialised in what must have been a disappointing response. The rather disconsolate group stood forlornly around and, after a short meeting, dispersed. There was no intervention by police. Perhaps the police operation acted as a deterrent but, in any event, a further ‘action’ is planned for Thursday at the Ministry of Defence.

Perhaps, pro-Palestinian activists opted for a safer option namely a ‘picket’ outside  Sainsbury’s in Camden demanding that shoppers boycott goods linked to Israel, including Coca Cola.

Two-tier policing

Two-tier policing was the primary reason for another protest on Saturday which was to take place opposite Downing Street. This was, in essence, an anti-police gathering and around 200 turned up with some carrying Union and St. George flags.

The meeting began with, ominously, music; ‘I predict a riot,’ by the Kaiser Chiefs and then there was a chorus of the ‘Tommy Robinson’ song. At the meetings conclusion, most of the 200 swarmed across the road to stand outside Downing Street chanting, ‘We want Starmer out.’ The traffic was halted but only briefly as the crowd complied with police requests to move out of the road. The Tommy Robinson song was repeated followed by the chant, ‘we want Tommy out,’ referring to his current incarceration for contempt of court.

After about fifteen minutes, having made their point, the group returned to their designated meeting point. There was some concern amongst officers that a Congolese protest was due to complete its march at Downing Street. Other Congolese marches had posed problems before; however, on this occasion, there was just half a dozen protesters with a placard that stated, ‘walking for the women of the Congo.’

There was no reaction from those attending the ‘two-tier’ protest which had begun to disperse. Another ‘two-tier’ protest has been arranged for next Saturday but at this stage it’s not possible to ascertain whether the organisers are far-right or hard-left or indeed from the ‘centre.’

Football

Protests were not the only public order challenges facing the Met on Saturday. Crystal Palace versus Brighton is always a high- risk match in terms of potential crowd violence. Officers involved had to ‘parade’ at 7am and the policing plan involved closing off roads using police carriers, in order to keep rival fans apart. Also in London were Cardiff at QPR and Portsmouth at Millwall; both games involved further carefully planned policing operations.

Danger in Southall

The annual Sikh Vaisakhi procession in Southall which takes place on a Sunday in April, attracts thousands also necessitates a policing operation because of the sheer numbers involved. Happily, the days of religious tensions have long gone and the procession attracts both participants and well-wishing onlookers from all religions.

A feature of these processions, be they Sikh or those of other religions, are refreshment stalls set out at intervals on the route. On Sunday, social media footage shows one of these stalls catching fire and it quickly became apparent that gas cannisters posed a real danger. Social media also shows Met officers acting quickly to move the crowds to a safe distance away. Several people were reportedly injured by an exploding cannister; local firefighters extinguished the fires and the event was abandoned. There are no reports of serious injuries.

All in all, however, another successful weekend for the Met which would be of little interest to mainstream media editors who seem endlessly focussed on headlines which will denigrate all officers.

Events of the weekend appeared of little interest to the Met either. There were no social media posts in advance of the weekend events or subsequently. On the plus side, however, for Met Comms they have posted dramatic footage of two off-duty officers ‘taking down’ a cash-point thief.

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

Category: OpsPublic Order