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Weds 1st April: G20 protests - discussion, reaction and chat

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hiraethified
Here's a quick reminder of today's actions in case anyone's coming along or wants to follow the action on traffic cams (if still operational):

Wednesday 1 April
It's Financial Fools Day, everyone! The first (scheduled) protest is the G-20 Meltdown march on the Bank of England, kicking off (hopefully not literally) at 11am with a four-pronged procession representing the Horsemen of the Apocalypse:
*The red horse against war starts from Moorgate
*The green horse against climate change starts from Liverpool Street
*The silver horse against financial crimes starts from London Bridge
*The black horse against land enclosures and borders (honouring the "360th full circle anniversary of the Diggers") starts from Cannon Street

There's a big party planned when the processions meet at the Bank. This is billed as a very English protest, and they're recommending you bring food and water to share (especially cake: "you can't have a revolution without cake"), flags and musical instruments.
Climate Camp is setting up at exactly 12.30pm outside the European Climate Exchange at 62 Bishopsgate. If you want to go camp, take your own tent and sleeping bags, food and water, and anything to decorate the area.
Campaign Against Climate Change is holding a Fossil Fools Day protest outside the ExCel centre 12.30-7.30pm with a rally at 6.30pm. They'll have a big 'iceberg' and they invite you to bring your own 'ice blocks' and dress in white.
People and Planet are planning action against RBS-NatWest as part of their Ditch Dirty Development campaign, against funding of fossil fuels. There's not much detail about times and places, which is quite possibly deliberate.
Stop the War Coaltition are meeting at 2pm outside the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square to protest against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Alternative London Summit takes place at the University of East London's Docklands Campus 4-9pm. It's a teach-in, with keynote speakers including Ken Loach, Tony Benn, Tariq Ali and Caroline Lucas.
Fossil Fools Day will also be outside the British Museum's Great Russell Street entrance from 6pm, where BP are (kind of stupidly) celebrating their centenary. Protesters plan their own party (bring banners, instruments and "a sense of climate justice").

PDF flyer: http://www.g-20meltdown.org/sites/g-20meltdown.org/files/g20Meltdown.pdf (6MB)
 
I thought the Alternative London Summit had been cancelled? Isn't there an on-line petition or something?
 
I thought the Alternative London Summit had been cancelled? Isn't there an on-line petition or something?
Here's their latest press release (posted yesterday):
Despite management efforts to shut down the Alternative London Summit on Wednesday 1st April organisers and speakers are committed to making sure the event goes ahead at the University of East London as planned.

Occupation commences at 4pm. At 6pm there will be a press conference held at University of East London in the East Building, room 1.12. Speeches commence at 6pm across two lecture theatres.
Organisers are appealing to the public to join academics, union representatives and students in the occupation of the university in order to ensure that prominent political, scientific, academic and activist speakers who have remained committed to the event will be free and able to speak as planned.

It is vital at this pivotal moment in British and world history that we, the people have a public platform to understand and act on alternative ideas and strategies for our political, environmental and economic future.
The inconvenient truth that the authorities are so anxious to suppress is the simple fact that another world is possible!

Despite New Labour’s best efforts to establish corporate control over our education system, like many other universities across the country the University of East London is proud of its diversity of ideas, its intellectual autonomy and freedom of expression.

Free speech still exists in our university and it is our duty to protect this.
The crucial battleground on April 1st is the Docklands Campus of the University of East London. Either we lose control to the corporate state or we defend our sovereignty and therefore defend our traditions of freedom and democracy across England and Beyond.

This is a battle between language and violence. If armed police are permitted to break the sacred circle of academic and scientific autonomy England will be a police state.
You may not have been thinking of coming. Please think again.
We are the people. We are the power.
http://www.altg20.org.uk/
 
The University of East London website ( http://www.uel.ac.uk/ ) says:

G20 summit - campus closures: The University of East London will be closed on Wednesday 1 and Thursday 2 April, due to uncertainty about transport and possible disruption around the G20 Summit at Excel. The 'Alternative G20 Summit' scheduled for the evening of Wednesday 1 April at Docklands campus has been cancelled. The University will be open as normal on Friday 3 April.

Given that the alternative summit will now be an 'occupation', it will be interesting to see if people like Ken Livingstone, John McDonnell and the BBC Newsnight guy will turn up. I don't understand why they don't have an alternative fall-back location given the quality of the line-up they had booked.
 
Don't they keep "occupying" this place?

Honestley, does any learning actually ever get done there?
 
Yeah! They'd be better off posting reams of cut and paste and long lists of links to Indymedia.

You won't believe how much that hurts The Man.

Just where are the cut and paste and long lists of links to Indymedia, there on another post and i took what you said on board, it was a witism alass not as good as the one in Shameless last night..
 
Water cannon outside RBS:

4493191.jpg
 
erm a quick question. What information about police powers/rights/protesters rights/etc should I quickly print out/learn before heading down at lunch time.
 
erm a quick question. What information about police powers/rights/protesters rights/etc should I quickly print out/learn before heading down at lunch time.
My suggestion would be to get some supplies just in case you get 'contained' in a police cordon for several hours.
 
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