Anti-austerity group plans protest outside Bank of England
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Version 0 of 1. The anti-austerity group behind a protest that escalated into violent clashes with riot police outside Downing Street on Saturday is planning another demonstration outside the Bank of England next month. The People’s Assembly has told campaigners to assemble “right on the doorstep of the very people who created the crisis in the first place” in central London on 20 June, sparking what could become a summer of anti-austerity protests across the UK. Hundreds of people attended the group’s impromptu demonstration outside Downing Street on Saturday after David Cameron was returned to No 10 with a Conservative majority. The protest quickly turned ugly, with green smoke bombs and tomato ketchup thrown at riot police officers in clashes that led to 15 arrests for violent disorder or assaulting police. Scotland Yard said on Sunday that one police officer required hospital treatment for a suspected dislocated shoulder, another suffered a cut lip after being struck by an object and three more officers were assaulted. Fourteen of those arrested, aged from 16 to 45, have been released on police bail pending further investigation. A 24-year-old man remains in custody after being arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer. Detectives are trawling hours of CCTV footage to track down a protester who sprayed “Fuck Tory scum” on the monument to the women of the second world war on Whitehall. Ch Supt Gerry Campbell said: “The vast majority of those protesting did so peacefully. However a small, violent minority were intent on causing disorder. “We have launched an investigation into criminal damage to the women in world war two memorial. This crime is particularly abhorrent considering we are celebrating the 70th anniversary of VE Day. “I am appealing to anyone who witnessed the criminal damage taking place, or may have information regarding those involved, to contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.” Related: Anti-austerity protesters take to UK streets after Tory election victory Acting commander Colin Morgan said officers used the tactic of kettling to contain protesters when the Downing Street demonstration turned violent. “We respect the right of people to protest peacefully, while we must also balance the need for Londoners and visitors to go about their business – and for events such as this weekend’s VE Day celebrations to be held safely,” Morgan said. “We carefully assess the intelligence and information available to us and we put in place the most appropriate policing operation, which will often include having officers available on standby to respond rapidly to disorder.” A separate demonstration in Cardiff, also organised by the People’s Assembly, took place more peacefully, with the singer Charlotte Church among the demonstrators, clutching a homemade placard emblazoned: “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more.” In a Facebook post announcing its 20 June march, the People’s Assembly said it was arranging travel for supporters from across the country to the Bank of England for a demonstration that would be “bigger and bolder than ever we have done before”. More than 32,000 people on Facebook have said they will attend the rally, which would draw significant resources from both City of London police and the Metropolitan police if it is on the same scale as a 50,000-strong protest organised by the group last summer. The group says in its invitation to supporters: “With the Tories going it alone in government we know exactly what to expect. More nasty, destructive cuts to the things ordinary people care about – the NHS, the welfare state, education and public services. “We’ll be assembling the demonstration in the heart of the City of London right on the doorstep of the very people who created the crisis in the first place, the banks and their friends in Westminster. We demand that the bankers and elite should pay for the crisis and not the vast majority who had nothing to do with it.“Now is the time to get organizing, to mobilize our communities, to prepare transport and spread the word. We need to do all that we can to make this demonstration bigger and bolder than ever we have done before.” Church, the Welsh-born singer, is not the only big-name supporter of the People’s Assembly, which came to prominence when tens of thousands of people joined its anti-austerity march from the BBC’s New Broadcasting House headquarters in central London to Westminster last June. Speakers at that demonstration included the comedians Russell Brand and Mark Steel. Maxine Peake, the star of TV dramas including Shameless and Silk, also lent her support to the group in a recent letter to the Guardian, alongside the actor Mark Rylance and comedians Shappi Khorsandi, Rufus Hound and Francesca Martinez. The anti-austerity group, which describes itself as a “movement against cuts and privatisation” is also supported by the Green party and trade unions including Unite, Unison and the National Union of Teachers. |