Urban75 Home About Offline BrixtonBuzz Contact

[Mon 27th Aug 2012] DPAC Presents the ATOS games (UK)

Strange to think it was a former charity worker and policy wonk, Kate Stanley of the IPPR, who created a lot of the momentum for these brutal reforms...
 
That was a great protest, a good few hundred people but really hard for me to judge, I reckon it was a similar size to the Oxford Circus protest that DPAC & UKUncut did a couple of months back.
Firstly outside the ATOS HQ, lots of people, chanting etc. some nice banners and placards and representatives there from rtw/swp, coalition of resistance, occupy, anonymous, green party and others you'd expect like boycott workfare, hackney welfare campaign, LCAP and some other poverty / welfare campaign groups I can't remember.
Was there for around an hour and half before being told that people were locked on at the DWP offices in Westminster so we headed for the tube and went over there, where wheelchair users were locked on across the doorway and inside the offices. Apparently demanding to meet IDS and Maria Miller but it's parliament holiday time and in any case afaik MPs aren't around on Friday's because that's casework/consituency work day.

Anyway there was a line of coppers inside the doorway with wheelchair users in front of them and also behind them, and there was a half-hearted attempt to push through inside the DWP but nothing really serious and very quickly went to just people standing around, chanting and talking..
this went on for an hour I think, before the police decided that they needed to be the ones blocking the entrance into the DWP offices and stormed in to the protest, apparently knocking over at least one wheelchair and I've seen on twitter someone sayin a disabled person was taken to hospital. I didn't witness anything other than pushing and shoving but the met were their usual jumped up aggressive arseholes.

I know it's about control but I still don't understand it.. what did they achieve? the DWP entrance was blocked before by protesters and it was blocked after by the MET (and the protesters who were on the pavement/road). Those still inside stayed there until they decided to come out and some people were injured. The atmosphere changed from a pretty chilled and friendly one (despite the angry chanting) to a heavy, aggressive one.

I had to leave to get my train home before the protest ended, I don't know if there was more scuffles after I left at around half three or not. I've no idea if anyone was arrested but it wouldn't surprise me if those locked on inside were.

Good day - seen articles linked to from the BBC and Channel 4, and lots of TV cameras were around, someone was saying they were going to be live on C5 news at 6:30 but I was on the train so no idea if that happened or not.
 
Tussle broke out, Big Tom's ITN youtube clip above shows it from the left hand side of the entrance to Caxton House, where most of the press were standing. I was on the right hand side. It's harder than I realised to take photos that close when a fight breaks out just a couple of feet away. So there's only this rubbish one.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us
 
This guy was selling V masks for two quid a pop just behind me. Quite strange to see some profiteering going on in the midst of it, but perhaps they're just covering their costs lol.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us
 
Then five or six OB ran from the left behind the press to reinforce their colleagues at the entrance, only managed to catch the last of em in this pic.


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

So I stepped back a bit to see what the OB were up to, this is looking towards Victoria on the left hand side.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Definitely quieter from the left hand side, I guess most of us arrived from Westminster and were mostly on the right hand side or in the middle facing Caxton House.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Great banner being fixed up with masking tape



Uploaded with ImageShack.us
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
New Bosses-same old game: business as usual for the Labour Government ACG online public meeting, August 21st at 7pm
Replies
1
Views
474
charlie mowbray
C
Jeremiah18.17
UK Anti-fascist mobilisations 2023
2 3 4
Replies
101
Views
6K
hitmouse
hitmouse
C
ACG Reading Group June 27th
Replies
11
Views
673
Signal 11
Signal 11
Lee Japser
Urgent: Baroness Louise Casey's Review into the Culture of the Metropolitan Police Service Public Meeting Karibu Centre Mon 24th Oct 6 pm
2 3
Replies
74
Views
3K
kenny g
kenny g
furluxor
Stop Rwanda deportations demo - all UK
Replies
1
Views
489
hitmouse
hitmouse
Back
Top Bottom