REPORT FROM MAY DAY PROTESTS, LONDON May 01 2001 View photographs to accompany this report.... I've just returned from Oxford Street and feel it's my duty to explain in as neutral terms as possible what I've witnessed. I walked around the West End looking for gatherings and demonstrations. All of them were rather small and very much peaceful. At around 2pm or so I saw a huge number of police vans race around Oxford Circus, sirens wailing. About 20 vans gathered at the back of John Lewis. I then saw a group of policemen, about 50 strong, running towards Oxford Circus. When I arrived at Oxford Circus I was greeted by a relatively quiet and very peaceful group of protesters, holding banners, some playing musical instruments. People were throwing Frisbees and footballs and showering confetti and leaflets. Some were dancing, but the crowd was not throbbing, it was relatively static. It was an extremely warm atmosphere, especially in comparison with what was to come later. I moved to the periphery with the intention of leaving Oxford Circus but was surprised to be told by policemen that I couldn't leave. In fact, by this point, all of Oxford Circus had been blocked off. You will see the shots in the news- two walls of policemen with a large gap in the middle. The tube station was closed. Policemen with video cameras walk around, filming everyone. A large number of plain-clothes officers with walkie-talkies and earpieces mixing with the crowd. And many, many members of the media- they almost outnumbered the demonstrators. The number of protesters was relatively small, but there were plenty of people there- notably members of the public who just happened to get caught in the melee. Let's not forget that average ordinary citizens and tourists are there in the blockade as well. I was standing next to a group of teenage girls who had been out shopping and a 60-year old businessmen on the way back from lunch. There was also a security guard from a local office who showed his ID in an attempt to be let out. No go. The police said no. After about ten minutes or so, the most talkative policeman in our area said we would be allowed out in single file *if* we give our name and address and sign a form. Some were happy to proceed on that basis, others weren't - interestingly the business gent replied 'this is Britain, not a police state, I won't sign it!" I believe in principle one shouldn't have to give the police name and address details when no crime has been committed. Then the most shocking part occurred. A message blared over the Tannoy speakers positioned throughout Oxford Circus and one of the policeman shouted "Single-arm belt lock!" or something to that effect. Suddenly the policemen locked together to form a chain and, with another shouted order, pushed on the crowd. Everyone - protesters and public alike - was pushed into a smaller space, compressed body to body as if at a rock concert. It was quite frightening and a lot of people were shouting and screaming. We should be allowed to protest peacefully. There is nothing illegal in protesting. We should not be prevented from protesting. Remember when you read / view/ hear media reports that: 1) Violence is more newsworthy than peaceful protest and so the successful peaceful protests will get less coverage. 2) Different media outlets have different political biases - compare The Guardian's coverage with that of The Evening Standard 3) The journalists and newsreaders are often not at street level, and so they are prone to reporting factual inaccuracies (for example, BBC News 24 weren't aware that Oxford Circus underground had been closed). 4) When the media talk of '3000' or '5000' demonstrators, they do not explain that a large proportion of those are witnesses/passers-by or members of the public who happen to have got caught up in the police blockade rather than militant troublemakers. It was almost completely peaceful. View photographs to accompany this report.... comment on this article e-mail this to a friend start a discussion [about i-drive] writing index Problems? Questions? Suggestions? Contact me: mail@tobyslater.com back to top back to home page

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