I predict a riot

30/03/2009

Could the G20 kick off a "summer of rage"? We look at the groups leading the protests

Adam Forrest

The coming together of word leaders in London today (April 1) gives Gordon Brown a chance to the strut his stuff on the global stage, but it’s also an opportunity for the British public to vent some of the mounting fury at the failure on the banking system.

Scores of left-leaning and moderate groups, police estimate 35,000 people attended, threw their weight behind a 'Put People First' march through the capital on Saturday before the head-honchos meet, but today's ‘Financial Fools Day’ is expected to be more confrontational.

Anarchist Ian Bone, described by the Sunday People as the “most dangerous man in Britain”, says ordinary people are looking for an outlet. “There is a very general anger about the banks; a quiet, unexpressed fury which goes beyond the usual suspects who protest,” he tells The Big Issue.

“This is the sea change that sees people getting onto the streets again. There’s been comments by Daily Mail readers in support of protest. A bunch of us were outside the Royal Bank of Scotland last week, and some of the junior bankers said they were going to join in too.”

Bone also expects radicals from Europe to travel for the demonstrations in London on April 1 and 2. Police are briefing businesses in central London that they do not expect the week’s events be peaceful. Newspapers have already reported anarchist plans to besiege the Bank of England, but Bone says this only forces far-left activists to be flexible.

Are we likely to see financial institutions having their smashed windows? “I couldn’t possibly say,” Bone chuckles. “There’s a huge amount of people that want to do something of a direct action nature. The mood with be confident and combative. It'll be jolly good fun.”

Update: Police have arrested around 20 people after a morning of clashes with protesters gathered outside the Bank of England. Graffiti has been sprayed on the walls of the insitution and the windows of a branch of Royal Bank of Scotland elsewhere in London have been broken. The RBS has said it has closed branches in the City. 

Climate Change - direct action

Among the other well-organised and experienced protesters are the environmentalists; a ever-growing group more determined than ever to put pressure on decision-makers ahead of the UN’s climate change summit in Copenhagen in December (a gathering seen as the world’s last change to come together to cut CO2 emissions).

Approval of a third runaway at Heathrow, E.ON’s plans for a new coal station at Kingsnorth in Kent, and the UK Government’s support for a new generation of nuclear power stations have all added to the frustration among those who want to see speedy change toward a carbon-neutral society.

Direct action has varied from the forced shutdown of the existing Kingsnorth station (Greenpeace activists scaled the tower and painted ‘Gordon’ down the side), to the recent barbed wire runway encampment that stopped flights at Aberdeen airport.

“The coalitions that have sprung up over plans for more coal and airport expansion are the biggest we’ve ever seen,” says Greenpeace activist Anna Jones. “This isn’t a bunch of environmentalist on the fringes anymore, it’s mainstream. Civil disobedience is becoming increasingly necessary because the democratic processes seem to be failing us.”

There are plans for climate camps in both Scotland and England this summer, following last year’s gathering near Kingsnorth, where campaigners exchanged ideas and came up against constant police raids.

Dan Glass, the Plane Stupid campaigner who gained notoriety by super-gluing himself to Gordon Brown at Downing Street last year, says “creative” direct action is catching on. “It's only going to build as the effects of climate change become more severe. There is a confrontational element, so it if upsets the state, so be it. Future generations will thank us for taking this seriously.”

British jobs for British workers

Industrial disputes are usually easier to predict, but last month’s wildcat strikes took almost everyone by surprise. The protests were prompted by a decision to bring in hundreds of foreign contractors to work on a new oil refinery plant in North Lincolnshire.

Anger over companies undercutting the domestic workforce was more widespread than even the unions realised, and unofficial action soon involved 2,000 workers at 17 different sites. Gordon Brown’s now infamous slogan was adopted, the BNP and UKIP seized upon the sentiment, and the tabloids were in a tizzy over the anti-European implications.

But Keith Hazlewood, the GMB’s national secretary, says the ongoing fight for equal pay and opportunities for all was mis-represented by the press. “It’s not a nationalist issue at all, or racist in any shape or form,” he tells The Big Issue. “It’s preservation of national agreements about terms and conditions of employment, which are being undermined.”

The European Trade Union Congress is now backing calls for an agreement on a level playing field for all domestic and “posted” migrant workers, and a huge rally in Liverpool this week suggested the problem far from over. “I can’t condone unofficial strikes,” says Hazlewood, “But I would imagine there would more lawful demonstrations and resentment to come because there’s so much unemployment, and so many people being exploited.”

Council cuts

Few things are sure to provoke as much ire at a local level as cuts to council-run public services, and there is growing dismay that it always seems to be the most vulnerable groups losing out when budgets are squeezed. There was a massive march through Ayr town centre against council cuts recently, and slashed spending by Aberdeen City Council saw around 10,000 take to the streets in May last year.

March organiser Sultan Feroz, of Aberdeen Trades Council, says another massive protest is planned for this May. “The deficits are worse, the people running the council are the same, so all kinds of people are willing to come out on the streets. People can at least let their council know how to get their priorities right.”

In Glasgow, a Save our Schools campaign has led a series of marches around council headquarters in recent weeks in opposition to closure plans for 25 schools and nurseries.

“It’s scarred a lot of parents and the kids are under constant stress because they don’t know if they’re going to be spilt up from their friends,” says Bellahouston Primary campaigner Billy Stevenson. “People are riled; we won’t give up and we want to do as much campaigning and harassing of the councilors as possible to make them think again.”

Post Office privatisation

It began as series of polite petitions, but there’s a fury gathering which may turn out to be the most bothersome of all for Gordon Brown’s government. Local efforts to save Post Offices from closure are coalescing into a national campaign against plans for the partial-privatisation of the beloved institution.

There have been reports of a substantial back bench rebellion in the Commons, should business secretary Peter Mandelson try to force through the sell-off of large chunks of the service (Labour MPs know it’s one of the issues they receive most letters and emails about).

John Warman, organiser of Communities Against Post Office Closures, is in the process creating more visible organised protests against the proposal. “There’s a lot of real anger about what’s happening, and about how ignored we’ve been,” he says. “They (the government) have tried to suggest it’s only about a few old people in villages moaning. So it would be good to see a national uprising against their plans.”

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