Sept 2016 - my london diary - photographs of protests and events in London by Peter Marshall

LSE Cleaners campaign launch

LSE, London. Thu 29 Sep 2016
There lecture theatre was full for the launch of the LSE cleaners campaign for fair treatment
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Cleaners at the LSE begin their campaign for parity of treatment with other workers at the university with a meeting led by their union, the United Voices of the World, as a part of the LSE's 3-day 'Resist' Festival.

The cleaners, employed by Noonan on a LSE contract, are paid the London Living Wage, but have only the statutory minimum holidays, sick pay and pension contributions, while workers directly employed by the LSE have more generous terms. They also complain they have lost rest facilities, are not allowed in the canteen with other workers, exposed to dangerous chemicals, not allowed to use lifts to move heavy equipment between floors and are generally treated like dirt.

One cleaner, Alba, shocked the meeting by standing up and describing how she had been sacked this week by the cleaning contractor after 12 years of service at the LSE. The UVW will fight her unfair dismissal as well as their other claims.

Among those at the well-attended meeting were a group of students from a new graduate course at the LSE on issues of equality, and Busayo Twins, LSE Students Union General Secretary, as well as several LSE staff. The meeting gave support from LSE students and staff for actions to improve conditions and fight the unfair redundancy, and suggestions were made for future actions on campus.
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Simon Elmer of ASH indicts LSE

LSE, London. Thu 29 Sep 2016

Simon Elmer speaking at the LSE
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As a part of the LSE's 3-day 'Resist' festival, Simon Elmer of Architects for Social Housing (ASH) gave a lengthy and detailed indictment, 'The Intellectual Bloodstain' on a report by a group of LSE academics on Kidbrooke Village, a development by Berkeley Homes and Southern Housing.

Kidbrooke Village has been constructed since 2009 on the site of the LCC-built Ferrier Estate in SE London, which was deliberately run-down, demonised and emptied by Greenwich Council from 1999 onwards.

Elmer listed his accusations under the following headings:

1. Lying about the reality of estate regeneration;
2. Taking the scholarly framework of their research hook, line and sinker from a property developer and passing it off as their own;
3. Placing the cultural legitimacy of an LSE report in the service of Government policy and the profits of Berkeley Homes;
4. Accepting financial backing for their research to validate the desired conclusions of their financial backers.

and went into detail on each point, convening the audience as a 'people's court'. No one came from the LSE to defend the academics concerned, and at the end of the session they were unanimously found guilty and Elmer demanded "their immediate sacking by the LSE, a written admission of their culpability for publication, the withdrawal of their report and the repudiation of its findings, and the donation of whatever fees they accepted to residents of the former Ferrier Estate that was demolished to make way for Kidbrooke Village.

The session was organised and chaired by Lisa McKenzie of the LSE, and she also called upon Petros Elia, General Secretary of the United Voices of the World trade union to which many of the LSE cleaners now belong. He accused the management of the LSE of failing to protect the interests of cleaners working there who they have outsourced to a cleaning contractor in a cost-cutting exercise without insisting on decent working conditions and conditions of service. He invited all present to a meeting to discuss action by the cleaners which was to be held as a part of the Resist festival later that day.
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Working Class debate at LSE Resist

LSE Resist Festival, London. Wed 28 Sep 2016

Lisa McKenzie makes a point and David Graeber and others listen outside the New Academic Building
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A lively lunchtime open debate around ideas of the working class on the steps in front of the LSE building in Lincoln's Inn Fields was led by LSE Professor of Anthropology David Graeber and Martin Wright of Class War with contributions from others including LSE research fellow Lisa McKenzie and Class War's Ian Bone.

It was one of a whole series of discussions, films, lectures and exhibitions in the 3 day campus-wide 3-day free ‘Resist: Festival of Ideas and Actions’ organised by McKenzie to explore how political resistance is understood within academic research, the arts, grassroots activism campaigns, student debate and mainstream politics.

I arrived late, having spent some time wandering around the huge building site that the LSE currently is, and had almost given up before finding the debate; some of my pictures of protests had been used in the programme for the festival and I had a copy but there debates were not listed there and the map published on Facebook suggested they were taking place in Houghton St, so I missed the introduction and most of the opening contribution by Graeber. There was a powerful and entertaining speech from Wright, a working-class activist from East London who told us he was proud of his record of not working, and Ian Bone was his provocative and witty self. McKenzie's experiences as a working-class voice in an academic environment were also telling.
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Nanas call on Queen to stop Fracking

Buckingham Palace, London. Tue 27 Sep 2016
The Nanas weren't invited into the palace but protested around the Queen Victoria fountain opposite
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In a protest with tiaras and tabards as well as tea and scones, Lancashire's famous anti-fracking Nanas - the Nanas from Nanashire - came to Buckingham Palace to present a detailed report by Anna Szolucha on 'The Human Dimension of Shale Gas Developments, and to call on Her Majesty as the most powerful grandmother in the land to stop fracking for the sake of future generations.

They say they have exhausted all other democratic openings. Green Party co-leader Jonathan Bartley accompanied the group who police warned were not allowed to display banners. They did get them out for some photographs when most of the police had gone away, but then put them away and got out the scones.

Shortly after I left, a man came and tried to serve a court order on Tina Louise Rothery who is being pursued over a huge legal bill claim against her by fracking company Cuadrilla who took a case against her for "for camping in a field, doing no damage and exercising a right to protest peacefully".

She was the only named defendant in the case and Cuadrilla, who say the protesters caused disruption and distress to the farmer’s family and his business appear to have deliberately inflated the costs of the so-called eviction - which took place after the protesters had left - in an attempt to discourage protests. She has consistently refused to cooperate with the court over payment, saying that the costs are totally illegitimate, and if Cuadrilla persist risks being sent to prison for contempt of court.

The Nanas stayed in 'occupation' in the area around the Queen Victoria Memorial fountain for around 24 hours before returning to Lancashire.
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Polish Women's 'Black Protest for Choice'

Polish Embassy, London. Sat 24 Sep 2016
A Polish feminist living in London speaks outside the embassy in a headdress the colours of the Polish flag
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Polish women in London, many wearing black, hold a protest at the Polish Embassy in solidarity with the 5th annual March for Choice in Ireland against the strict anti-abortion laws there condemned by the UN as ‘cruel, inhuman and degrading’ and the introduction of new laws proposed for Poland.

In Poland MPs in the governing conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party are backing a bill put forward by the Stop Abortion lobby that would make abortions except where the mother's life was at risk punishable by 3 to 5 years in jail.

As well as Polish women there were also many other feminists at the event, including some who had earlier protested at the Irish embassy, and one woman from Ireland spoke. As well as various posters and banners, some protesters put black tape across their mouths, and others carried wire coathangers, often used by back-street abortionists, sometimes with horrendous results, when legal abortion is banned.
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The Ritzy's Back for a Living Wage

Brixton, London. Sat 24 Sep 2016
Ritzy workers outside the cinema in Windrush Square
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Workers at the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton, who with their union BECTU took part in a series of strikes which resulted in a substantial wage increase, were on strike again with a lively picket calling for the London Living Wage, company sick pay and other benefits for all staff and fair rises for supervisors, managers, chefs, sound technicians and projectionists and everyone working for Picturehouse.

They say that Cineworld that owns Picturehouse made an after tax profit of £81.3 million in 2015, and should share a little of that with its employees to give them enough to pay rent and put food on the table - the London Living Wage - but management have rejected negotiations.
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Focus E15 - 3 years of resistance

Stratford Broadway, London. Sat 24 Sep 2016
Sam and Jasmin dance with others on the street to celebrate the third anniversary of their campaign
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Housing campaigners Focus E15 and their children party at the weekly street stall on Stratford Broadway to celebrate the third anniversary of the fight against Newham Council.

The 29 young mothers stood together to fight against their eviction from the Focus E15 hostel, refusing to accept being moved out of London, cut off from families and communities and demanding to be allowed to continue to live in the area they knew as home.

Their lively campaign forced Newham to rehouse them locally, but they continue to campaign for others, bringing issues of social cleansing and unjust housing in Newham and elsewhere to public attention, recently setting up Sylvia's Corner, a radical hub for East London.
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Release the Craigavon Two

Downing St, London. Sat 24 Sep 2016
A protester in green shoes holds the Irish flag calling for Justice for the Craigavon 2 at the Downing St gates
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A protest at Downing St by the Irish Republican Prisoners Support Group called for the release of the Craigavon 2, Brendan McConville and JOhn Paul Wooton, convicted of killing of Northern Ireland police office Stephen Carroll in March 2009.

The two were convicted on the evidence of a discredited witness who was allegedly paid both by members of the police force and the tabloid press despite the absence of any forensic evidence to connect them with the weapon used.

The protest also called for freedom for Tony Taylor, a prisoner released on licence in 2014, but taken back into jail without questioning or charge on the basis of intelligence reports he cannot see or question and denied any legal representation.
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London Stands with Standing Rock

U S Embassy, London. Mon 19 Sep 2016

In an Indian ceremony smoke from a Lakota sage smudge stick is wafted over everyone in the circle
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A non-violent, prayerful act of solidarity outside the US Embassy stood in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe threatened by the construction of a huge oil pipeline close to their reservation in North Dakota and the Missouri River.

Several thousand from around 120 Native American tribes, as well as allies from around the world, are protesting at a camp there against the pipeline which threatens the water supply of the tribe and 8 million people who live downstream, and 70 have been arrested at gunpoint. The protest against the Dakota Access Pipe Line uses the hashtag #NoDAPL. Protesters and journalists at the protest have been harassed by police and some arrested, but the protest has received little press coverage.

Several sacred sites on the pipeline route have already been destroyed. Several speeches from Dakota including a live phone link-up were played after a ceremony involving both US and tribal flags.
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Life Jacket 'graveyard'

Parliament Square, London. Mon 19 Sep 2016
Green Party co-leader Jonathan Bartley poses with the life jackets; he was very moved by the display
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The International Rescue Commission laid out 2,500 life jackets previously worn by adults and children refugees to cross from Turkey to Greece in Parliament Square as a reminder of the continuing deaths by drowning there, around 20 per day. Around twice as many people as the life jackets in this display are expected to drown this year at the current rate.

The protest was made with the cooperation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and charities World Vision and Migrant Voice, and was given special permission by London Mayor Sadiq Khan. It urged the UK to do more to welcome refugees to the UK and to meet the promises already made, and was criticised by a few bigots on the extreme right.

Among those I met was Green Party co-leader Jonathan Bartley who told me he had received some very racist comments after tweeting about refugees and the life-jacket event.
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Brixton Railway Arches

Brixton, London. Mon 19 Sep 2016
Local people march with a banner #NetworkJail against the eviction of local businesses
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Local residents and Green Party Co-Leader, Jonathan Bartley came to Bargain Carpets in the Brixton Railway Arches, threatened with eviction today by Network Rail, who want to empty all the arches, refurbish them and let them at three times the current rents or more. The eviction was postponed because of the protest.

The long delay and huge rent increases will make it impossible for the current businesses to remain. Network Rail want to increase their profits by replacing valued local businesses by the kind of bland high-price chains and franchises that have blighted high streets across the country.

Current leaseholders have been threatened that if they legally challenge the evictions they will not be offered leases in the refurbished arches. The protesters marched a few yards to a protest meeting led by the tenants in Brixton Market. Above the meeting three 'bodies' hung from the railway bridge with posters on them.
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Save Passing Clouds

Hoxton to Dalston, London. Sat17 Sep 2016

There was a party atmosphere outside the boarded up club
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Marchers gathered in Hoxton Square to support Passing Clouds, a north London music venue before marching there in a party atmosphere and going on for a night of music and speeches in Dalston.

Passing Clouds has hosted over 10,000 cultural and musical events since it opened in 2006 and was celebrating its 10th anniversary when it learnt that its landlord had secretly sold the site for development and was evicting them, with the loss of around 100 jobs. Campaigners immediately occupied the building for several weeks, but were unlawfully evicted last month. Many music venues across London held a short silence in a show of solidarity with today's protest.

After meeting in the square where there was some music and drumming, the several hundred protesters set off on a march behind a large figure of a crooked business man. The marched with a band playing and a number of drummers on the fairly narrow pavement of Kingsland Rd the mile and a quarter to the club, and were joined shortly before they arrived there by a lorry with a band on it.

Outside the club were another hundred or so waiting for them, with a group of African drummers and musicians around a small wood fire. This flared up dramatically when small amounts of white rum where poured on it, and one man took in a mouthful before breathing it out to burst into flames. The party there was continuing when I had to leave before they went on to protest and party into the night in a nearby Dalston square.
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Awakening Compassion' Vegan protest

Trafalgar Square, London. Sat17 Sep 2016

Vegans held a more or less silent protest
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Vegans from 'Awakening Compassion' held posters of animals and quotations, including by Mahatma Gandhi and Leonardo Da Vinci, in front of the National Gallery.

The pictures of animals were accompanied by texts with messages such as 'I am animal - Someone not something - I want to stay alive'. The group wants want an end to all animal farming and urges we all move to a plant-based diet which avoids cruelty, is more healthy and less polluting for the environment.

Although there are good reasons to eat less meat, most of the animals in the pictures only exist because they were carefully bred to produce food by humans and a vegan Britain would have no sheep, cows or chickens etc. It would I think be a very different place.
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Stop CETA at Canada House

Trafalgar Square, London. Sat17 Sep 2016
Protesters handed out leaflets and sang songs against the toxic trade deal with Canada
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Protesters hung a huge banner, sang and handed out flyers close to Canada House warning of the dangers of CETA (EU/Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement) currently being negotiated in secret and due to be approved by the EU in October.

They called for any UK post-Brexit trade deals to exclude any form of investor state dispute settlement that would allow corporations to sue the government in private court, to exclude all public services and financial deregulation, to protect the rights of government and public procurement to act in the public interest and to protect labour and human rights, the environment and public health and safety.
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Refugees Welcome Here

London. Sat17 Sep 2016
The main banner, carried by refugees, arrives in Parliament Square for the rally at the end of the march.
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Crowds gathered in Park Lane for a short rally before marching to Parliament Square in solidarity with refugees, calling on the government to respond the the huge feeling among the British people, 80% of whom have said we should be welcoming more refugees here.

The protest was supported by over 40 organisations, including major charities, faith organisations and activists: Action Aid, Amnesty International UK,
Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees (AVID), Asylum Aid, Asylum Support Appeals Project (ASAP), British Future, The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD), Calais Action, Care4Calais, CARE International,
The Children's Society, Churches Refugee Network, Citizens UK, City of Sanctuary,
Calais Action, Doctors of the World UK, Faiths Forum for London, Health Poverty Action, Help Refugees, Islamic Relief UK, Jewish Council for Racial Equality (JCORE), London City Sikhs, Mercy Corps, Migrants Resource Centre, Migrants Rights Network,
Mitzvah Day, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) UK, North of England Refugee Service,
National Union of Teachers (NUT), ONE Campaign, Oxfam, Praxis Community Projects, Refugee Action, Refugee Council, The Refugee Initiative, René Cassin,
Sadaqa Day, Scottish Refugee Council, Stand up to Racism, Syria Solidarity Campaign, UNICEF UK and Women for Refugee Women.
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London to Greenwich & back

London. Wed 14 Sep 2016

Greenwich college from the river
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A small group of us remembered one of our friends, Townly Cook, a painter and photographer who lived for years in Greenwich and produced a book of pictures of the area with a visit to the town, a walk around including several pubs we had been in with him and ending with a meal at the pub where we had come to eat with him on a number of occasions.

Some of us travelled by boat from central London to the meeting and we took quite a few pictures on the way, as well as a few as we walked around Greenwich. I took a few more from the bus on the way back to Waterloo.
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South Hill Park again

Bracknell, Berks. Mon 12 Sep 2016

Another family walk around the arts centre and park before a pub meal
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Shut Down Yarl's Wood

Near Bedford, UK. Sat 10 Sep 2016

People make a noise at the fence to Yarl's Wood
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Hundreds of protester braved persistent rain to stand for several hours in a protest organised by Movement for Justice waving and shouting support to the women asylum seekers held indefinitely inside Yarl's Wood, who responded enthusiastically by shouting and waving back from the prison blocks behind the high fence, hindered by windows that hardly open.

Several spoke to the protesters on their mobile phones, some telling how Serco security guards had prevented them from coming to the windows and were threatening those who greeted the protesters with solitary confinement, and there were speeches by a procession of women who had been held, some for a year or more, inside the immigration prison.
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Holborn Viaduct to Bethnal Green

London. Thu 8 Sep 2016

Holborn Viaduct and Farringdon St
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I was on my way to visit a friend and had some time to spare, so got of the bus to take some mainly panoramic images around Holborn Viaduct, where I'd see on a previous journey past the the building work to the southwest of the bridge. I'd a couple of pictures while the demolition was taking place some time ago.

The viaduct which dates from 1863 -1869 was part of an improvement scheme to take the road over the valley of the River Fleet, which by then ran under the road below. One of the first 'flyovers' in London it was lavishly decorated and there are pavilions at the four corners with steps leading to Farringdon St below. Some of it had to be rebuilt after being destroyed in the 1941 Blitz, and the two northern pavilions were restored to include lifts in 2000 and 2014 as parts of building developments.

The panoramic images here have the normal 'full-frame' 1.5:1 aspect ratio, with a high vertical and horizontal angle of view - the latter around 145 degrees. Most are essentially uncropped but have been converted from a spherical to a cylindrical perspective which renders vertical lines as straight lines, while leaving horizontal lines - except that through the centre of the image - as curves. Some were taken with the intention of cropping to a more panoramic format. There are also a few taken with a rectilinear ultrawide lens.

I got back on the bus and made a few more exposures both through the upper window, which was unusually clean both inside and out, and one or two though a small open sliding ventilation window.
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DPAC block bridge over benefit deaths

Westminster Bridge, London. Wed 7 Sep 2016

Protesters block the bridge with banners, floral sign and coffin
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Disabled campaigners calling for an end to the sanctions and cuts in benefits that have led to the deaths of many disabled people block Westminster Bridge in a protest calling for 'No More Benefit Deaths'.

Police asked them politely to leave, then began to threaten protesters and journalists with arrest if they remained on the highway. Many of DPAC's disabled protesters refused to move and a few remained blocking the roadway almost two hours after the protest began, when they called a halt to the protest and left.

On day of the opening ceremony for the Paralympics in Rio the protest called for the new Prime Minister to make public the findings of the UN investigation of UK violations of Deaf and Disabled people’s rights, to scrap the Work Capability Assessment and to end cuts and sanctions which are killing the disabled.
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'No More Benefit Deaths' rally

Downing St, London. Wed 7 Sep 2016

At the end of the rally everyone formed up behind a coffin to march to Westminster
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Disabled campaigners with white flowers at a rally at Downing St to remember the victims of the cuts and benefits sanctions which have killed many people with disabilities.

On day of the opening ceremony for the Paralympics in Rio they called for attention to human rights and for the new Prime Minister to make public the findings of the UN investigation into the UK for violations of Deaf and Disabled people’s rights, to scrap the Work Capability Assessment and commit to preventing future benefit-related deaths. At the end of the rally they march behind a coffin towards Parliament.
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Giant Banner 'No More Benefit Deaths

Westminster, London. Wed 7 Sep 2016

The banner hanging over the river wall opposite Parliament
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London, UK. 7th September, 2016. A banner drop facing the Houses of Parliament on the opening day of the Paralympics in Rio sent the message ''No More Benefit Deaths #DPAC' calling for the need for human rights for all disabled people and an end to the disastrous sanctions regime which has led to many deaths.

They urged the new Prime Minister to make public the findings of the UN investigation into the UK for violations of Deaf and Disabled people’s rights and to scrap the Work Capability Assessment and commit to preventing future benefit-related deaths.
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DPAC at Bromley Job Centre

Bromley Job Centre Plus, London. Tue 6 Sep 2016

Bromley has the second highest sanctions in London, denying 7524 claimants essential benefits in 2012-4
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Bromley and Croydon DPAC protested outside Bromley Job Centre in the London Borough of Bromley to demand they stop the use of sanctions against benefit claimants and stop the abuse of benefit claimants.

Bromley had the second highest sanction rate in London with a total of 7524 in 2012-4, including many claimants denied benefits for the maximum allowed length of three years. Recently a job centre employee there accidentally recorded a conversation with another employee on a claimant's answerphone in which she referred to the claimant as "some scrounging bastard that's popping out kids like pigs".

The protest by Bromley & Croydon DPAC, supported by other groups including the Mental Health Resistance Network, Bromley Cuts Concern, Class War and local trade unionists, was part of a nationwide week of action, highlighting the cumulative impact of the cuts on disabled people as the paralympic games are taking place in Rio.
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BMA Work Fitness Assessments protest

Tavistock Sq, London. Tue 6 Sep 2016
Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group protest outside the BMA
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Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group protested against the many different cuts and attacks on claimants, particularly those with disabilities outside the BMA HQ in Tavistock Square.

They were protesting against medical evidence from GPs being dismissed by Maximus assessors of fitness for work, most of whom lack appropriate medical knowledge and urge the BMA to confront the government over this, and for the BMA to stop advising GPs to charge patients for letters needed by patients for Work Capability Assessments.

The protest was one of many in a 'Rights Not Games' week of actions to highlight the cuts are causing to the disabled to coincide with the Rio Paralympics.
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Druids vigil against fracking

Whitehall, London. Mon 5 Sep 2016

The Warriors Call - pagans united against fracking
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Pagans staged a vigil against fracking for around 24 hours on Whitehall opposite Downing St.

A banner with a tree had the message 'Druids against Fracking - One (heart) for Mother Earth' while another had more esoteric symbols with the message 'We are Nature protecting ourselves. One of those present was wearing a t-shirt with the sigil 'The Warriors Call', a magic symbol widely adopted as an anti-fracking device.
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DPAC against cuts in care & support

Whitehall, London. Mon 5 Sep 2016

Paula Peters holds a banner 'We Want Full Inclusive Rights' as DPAC march towards Downing St
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Protesters from DPAC who had lobbied Parliament and presented the Inclusion London report evaluating the disastrous effects of cutting care and support funding for personal assistance following the closure of the Independent Living Fund in 2015 marched to Downing St.

They stopped in the roadway and police directed traffic around them as they staged a 'Pop-Up Street theatre with poems, songs, spoken word and performances showcasing the creativity of disabled people and the contribution they can make to society with proper support. The event was part of a series of protests calling for 'Rights Not Games' to coincide with the Rio Paralympics.
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Rival Brexit protests at Parliament

Parliament Square, London. Mon 5 Sep 2016

Protesters hold up 'Spiked' magazine posters calling for the UK to invoke Article 50 NOW!
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Pro- and Anti-Brexit campaigners protested outside Parliament as MPs debated a petition on the EU referendum with over 4 million signatures calling for the government to implement a rule calling for a second referendum as the vote was less than 60%.

Pro-Brexit campaigners organised by Spiked magazine shouted loudly in Old Palace Yard for Theresa May to 'Invoke Article 50 Now!', while a smaller group of pro-Europe protesters held flags and banners in Parliament Square.
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RCG Street Stall in Brixton

Brixton, London. Sat 3 Sep 2016

A banner on the pavement close to Brixton Station against social cleansing
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As I came out of Brixton Station to catch a bus I heard and saw some familiar faces. The Revolutionary Communist Group hold a regular street stall in Brixton.

The posters, banners and speeches were about the plans by Lambeth Council to demolish council estates - Cressingham Gardens, Central Hill, Fenwick,
Knight's Walk, South Lambeth and Westbury estates. They intend to work with private developers to create properties at market rents, with probably a token amount of social housing. Communities will be split up with current tenants being forced out, probably to distant areas, and those who have bought property can expect compensation far below the amount needed to buy similar homes in the area.

Lambeth is a Labour council, and like others across London is engaging in a policy of social cleansing. Council owned social housing is being transferred to commercial organisations, with lucrative jobs going to some of the councillors involved in the transfer. The process, started probably with good intentions under the Blair New Labour government, has been perverted by property developers and the increasingly commercial housing associations and is now being driven by right-wing groups within the Labour party such as 'Progress', with as yet no effective opposition within Labour, which still supports these programmes which are completely at odds with traditional Labour values.
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Baaba Maal boycott Israel

Royal Festival Hall, London. Sat 3 Sep 2016

A protester holds a large Palestinian flag close to the Nelson Mandela bust
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A protest by human rights group Inminds at the Royal Festival Hall urged Senegalese musician and Oxfam 'Global Ambassador' Baaba Maal to cancel his scheduled performance at the Jerusalem Sacred Music Festival later this month in East Jerusalem, under illegal military occupation since 1967.

The protest took place next to the bust of Nelson Mandela, a firm supporter of Palestinian opposition to Israeli apartheid, whose face was also on one of the banners.
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Sports Direct Day of Shame

Stoke Newington & Harrow, London. Sat 3 Sep 2016

Protesters outside Sports Direct in the centre of Harrow
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War on Want protested outside Sports Direct in Stoke Newington and Harrow as part of a countrywide 'Sports Direct Day of Shame' against their use of insecure zero hour contracts which mean workers can be fired at will and make workplace abuse of human dignity and workers rights hard to challenge.

Most of their workers are women or migrants and following a critical select committee report by MPs Sports Direct has become emblematic of the rise of precarious contracts that give workers no security. The protest comes before the Sports Direct AGM this Wednesday.
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Justice for Dalian Atkinson at IPCC

Holborn, London. Fri 2 Sep 2016

A police officer comes to find out what is happening
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The Black Lives Matter movement protested outside the Independent Police Complains Commission calling for the IPCC to be radically overhauled so it will properly investigate and prosecute police officers involved in unlawful deaths, including that of former Aston Villa, Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich striker Dalian Atkinson, who died after being tasered by police outside his father's home in Telford on August 15th.

A police officer came up to ask the protesters what they intended to do and then left them alone. Placards called for 'No More Coverups' and 'Prosecute Killer Cops - Justice Now'.
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London Images

London, September 2016

Stoke Newington
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More pictures from the train at Battersea, Nine Elms and Lambeth, from a bus in Kennington and Westminster and on the ground in Lincoln's Inn Fields and Stoke Newington.
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September 2016