Students March to Defend Democracy
Defend democracy, Stop the Coup
Staines Moor
Solidarity with Polish LGBTQ+ community
Anti-fascists outnumber Protest for 'Tommy'
Camden, Kings X & Regent's Canal
Rebel Rising Royal Observatory Die-In
Charing Cross to Greenwich
Official Animal Rights March 2019
Stand with Hong Kong & opposition
XR Rebel Rising March to the Common
Stand up to LGBT+ Hate Crime Kiss-In
Justice for Marikana - 7 years on
Stand with Kashmir
Kashmir Indian Independence Day Protest
Stop Turkey's Invasion of Kurdistan
Kashmiris protest in Trafalgar Square
Vegans Protest Diary Farming
Kashmiris protest at India House
City & Thames
SODEM at the Cabinet Office
Hiroshima Bomb victims remembered
Legalise Personal Light Electric Vehicles
'Free Tommy' protest
Anti-Racists march against the far right
LouLou's stop exploiting your workers
North Woolwich Royal Docks & Thames
DLR - Bank to London City Airport
Afrikans demand reparations
january |
Other sites with my pictures include
london pictures
londons industrial history
hull photos
lea valley / river lea
and at my blog you can read
>Re:PHOTO my thoughts on photography.
At the end of the rally in Whitehall, Youth Strike 4 Climate and others left to march through London against Boris Johnson's plans to shut down Parliament to push through a no-deal Brexit.
They marched to Charing Cross and along The Strand, then turned onto Waterloo
Bridge where they sat down blocking traffic in both directions and held
a rally.
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Thousands of both leave and remain supporters enraged at Boris Johnson's attack on our democracy by shutting down Parliament to prevent discussion on leaving Europe without a deal fill Whitehall in protest.
Police escorted a handful of extreme right wing Brexiteers supporting Johnson
past the large protest. The rally was hosted by Another Europe Is Possible,
Green Party, Momentum, YouthStrike4Climate, UK Student Climate Network,
Stop Trump, Owen Jones and Labour for a Socialist Europe, and speakers at
the rally included John McDonnell, Diane Abbott, Sian Berry, Owen Jones,
trade unionists and grass roots activists.
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Although it was a Bank Holiday we decided we had too much to do at home to go for a long walk, and we also had problems with legs and knees.
But it was a nice day, and in late afternoon we decided to go on a short
walk, which eventually turned out to be around 5 miles, rather longer than
we had anticipated - it was such a nice day we kept on walking and then
had to keep on to walk back a different way.
Staines Moor is a Site of Special Scientific Interest as it has been continually
grazed but not ploughed for at least 900 years and is home to various species,
particularly some ants, whose ant hills cover large areas. People living
close to the moor were able to register their grazing rights - farrens -
under the Commons Registration Act in 1965 and although these only allow
two horses and a cow (or is it two cows and a horse?) these rights can be
assigned to others to use.
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Protesters came to the Polish Embassy to show solidarity the LGBTQ+ community in Poland.
LGBTQ+ people in Poland are currently living in fear, their lives threatened
under the rule of the right-wing Law & Justice Party which together
with the Catholic Church have accused them of being a threat to children
and to Poland itself. Some local authorities have declared ‘LGBT Free
Zones’ and nationalists groups have actively attacked members of the
LGBTQ+ community and Pride events.
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Anti-fascists opposed a protest at the BBC by Tommy Robinson supporters who claim he is in jail for journalism.
Robinson was sentenced to 9 months for 3 offences outside Leeds Crown Court which could have led to the collapse of a grooming gang trial, and has previous convictions for violence, financial and immigration frauds, drug possession and public order offences. The claim by his supporters that he was imprisoned for 'journalism' and in some way is a defender of free speech is simply ludicrous. He knew he was breaking the law and pleaded guilty.
The London Anti-Fascist Assembly and other groups opposing the extreme right met at Oxford Circus and marched up Regent St towards the BBC where a small group of Robinson supporters had gathered. Police marched with the anti-fascists and a line of officers stopped them a few yards from the Free Tommy protest as they attempted to approach, and after some shouting at the protesters they were pushed by police to a pen on the opposite side of the road.
After a short while, Antifa were joined by Stand Up to Racism protesters who had met elsewhere and were led by the police to the same area. The small group of 'Free Tommy' protesters who had been at the BBC were later joined by another small group who had marched with a police escort from Trafalgar Square.
Police who had been joined by a number of mounted officers kept the two
groups apart. I went away for three quarters of an hour to photograph a
protest at the Polish Embassy and the two groups were still shouting at
each other across the road. I saw one protester being led away by police
and later found out it was one of the anti-fascists who gone across the
road to protest and had apparently refused to go back into the pen when
ordered to by police.
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More panoramas mainly made along the Regent's Canal at Camden.
I had arranged to meet an artist friend at King's Place to walk along a section of the canal with her to Camden. I went early and took a train to Camden Road and then walked to Kings Place along Agar Grove and through the Maiden Lane Estate and then down York Way with a few detours.
After we met we walked along the tow path towards Camden, stopping at a few places on the way where she sat down and made a few sketches while I wandered around a little making pictures. We said goodbye at Kentish Town Road where she took a bus and I continued along the canal to Cumberland Basin before turning back to make my way to Camden Road for the Overground.
It had been an intense afternoon of work, and the pictures here are a sample
of that work. All have a horizontal angle of view of around 145°, but
some are cropped from the full vertical angle of around 95° to give
a more panoramic format. Cropping generally makes the images look more natural.
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A group marched from South East London Extinction Rebellion's two-day Rebel Rising festival on Blackheath Common to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich Park and hold a die-in to emphasize that we are running out of time to deal with the climate catastrophe that is threatening global extinction.
The die-in outside the entrance to the observatory symbolised that we have zero time and that we need to act now on climate change, and some taking part had clock faces drawn on their faces. It took place just a few yards to the east of the markers for the Greenwich meridian.
Many of the tourists walking past or going in and out of the Observatory
expressed support for the protest and the need to take drastic action to
avoid global catastrophe.
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Pictures from rail journeys from Charing Cross to Blackheath and back from Greenwich and from Greenwich Park.
It was a fine afternoon and was able to pick a slightly cleaner than usual
window on my train when I boarded at Charing Cross on my way to Blackheath.
I walked to the Royal Observatory to photograph a protest, but the view
from there was amazing in the late afternoon light and after I took several
pictures, adding a few more as my train from Maze Hill (with a slightly
dirtier window) went over Deptford Creek.
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Twelve thousand marched from Hyde Park through London calling for everyone to become vegan and to demand an end to all animal oppression.
The march halted in Trafalgar Square, blocking the roads. They say that
animal lives matter as much as ours and call for an end to speciesism, and
the misuse of animals for food, clothing and sport. 269 on the shirt of
the marcher in the picture is the number of a calf on an Israeli diary farm
whose number Israeli animal rights branded themselves with in a 2012 protest
after which 269life became a worldwide movement. The London march was organised
by the vegan activist collective Surge and non-violent civil disobedience
movement Animal Rebellion.
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Supporters of Hong Kong's freedom marches and Chinese students opposed to them gathered in Trafalgar Square before the march to Parliament Square.
Police kept the two groups apart as the young Chinese shouted threats and insults, while the supporters of the Hong Kong protesters posed with their banners in front of the National Gallery before marched down Whitehall to Parliament Square.
They protesters repeated the five demands of the Hong Kong marchers, carrying posters with the numbers 1 to 5 listing them. They called on the UK to acknowledge that China has breached the Sino-British Joint Declaration, and to stand with the people of Hong Kong. They want the UK and the US to impose trade sanctions on those responsible for violations of human rights and freedoms in Hong Kong.
Chinese students in the UK, who either come from very wealthy Chinese families or are here with financial support from the Chinese government followed the protest and shouted that the protesters here and in Hong Kong were traitors from the pavement.
I left the march as it reached Parliament Square where there was to be
a rally.
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South East London Extinction Rebellion meet beside the Cutty Sark in Greenwich to march to a two-day festival on Blackheath Common on Global climate change.
They call on local councils to act on their declaration of a Climate Emergency and for governments to take the urgent actions needed to avoid the extinction of species including our own. The march began later than planned waiting for the samba band to arrive and I left the marchers as they made their way up through Greenwich Park on their way to Blackheath
Blackheath Common was a meeting point of the Suffragettes, Chartists, Climate
Camp and the Peasants Revolt.
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Campaigners hold a vigil and kiss-in in the rain in Parliament Square about the growing menace of LGBT+ Hate Crime with attacks increasing by 150% between 2014 and 2018.
They say the rise is fuelled by the bigotry of Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his cabinet cronies, and the Stand up to LGBT+ Hate Crime Kiss-In and Vigil which took place in persistent light rain included speeches from a number of gay activists and supporters as well as a kiss-in was the start of a series of events planned to combat the growing hate.
The organisers say that these "attacks have got to stop. It is
50 years since the Stonewall Uprising and the birth of the Gay Liberation
Front. Our movement was born out of rage and riots. We will not be driven
back into the closet. We will meet all attacks with resistance and protest."
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Protesters hold a vigil at South Africa House in Trafalgar Square on the 7th anniversary of the massacre of 34 striking miners at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine deliberately planned by South African police for London mining company Lonmin.
Lonmin's directors at the time included Cyril Ramaphosa, now President
of South Africa. No one has been prosecuted for the murders and they call
for justice and for compensation for the workers families.
People held pictures of the murdered miners and stood in a half-circle in
front of the entrance to South Africa House while several people spoke about
the massacre and the crimes of Lonmin and the South African authorities.
After the speeches and a short silence people came and read out the names
and jobs of the murder victims, sometimes adding more information about
them, and then taped their photographs and yellow flowers to the gates of
South Africa House which was now closed. An employee came and told them
they should not be putting anything on the gates but was told that they
would not need to do so if the government had acted properly and that he
should go away, which he did.
The UK company Lonmin was sold in May to South African mining corporation
Sibanye-Stillwater for $226 million, but Lonmin directors hold 9% of the
shares in this company and the same London asset management companies, Investec
and Majedie are also investors in Sibanye-Stillwater. This company, which
has a terrible safety record - 20 mineworkers were killed in its mines in
the first six months of 2018 also inherits the liabilities of Lonmin and
the so far unmet obligations to compensate the families of the victims and
the community.
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People protest in Trafalgar Square on Indian Independence Day against the arrests and human rights abuses in Kashmir and condemn Prime Minister Modi's revocation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.
They want the rights of the Kashmiri people respected and UN resolutions implemented and call for freedom for Kashmir which has been occupied for many years by over 700,000 Indian troops. The protest had been organised by supporters of independence for Kashmir and were heated arguments began when one speaker called for all Pakistan flags to be removed. Several police officers came in to separate the two groups of protesters and allow the protest to continue.
Those who supported Kashmir as a Pakistani state, or at least with a close
relation with Pakistan moved towards the top of the steps and continued
in a largely separate rally, waving Pakistan flags and with some speeches,
including from Sahibzada A Jahangir, spokesman to the Prime Minister of
Pakistan. The main rally continued further down the steps, with a larger
crowd mainly in the main body of the square.
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A large crowd protest outside the Indian High Commission, blocking Aldwych on Indian Independence Day against the arrests and human rights abuses in Kashmir.
Various groups came to condemn Indian Prime Minister Modi's revocation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and call for freedom for Kashmir which has been occupied for many years by over 700,000 Indian troops. They want the rights of the Kashmiri people respected and UN resolutions implemented.
The protesters included groups supporting both the Indian and Pakistan administered areas of Kashmir. As I arrived there were noisy scuffles around the side of the embassy and fake blood was thrown, but the crowd was too dense for me to get close enough to take pictures and police were not allowing access.
It remained very crowded in front of the embassy, which was protected by
barriers and a line of police including mounted police. Around 4pm people
began to move away, some moving on to Trafalgar Square where another protest
was scheduled to start at 5pm.
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Kurds and supporters protest at the Turkish Embassy over Turkish plans to invade Kurdish areas of eastern Syria with the aid of Syrian rebels including IS fighters.
They accuse the fascist Turkish state of wanting to annihilate the Kurdish
people and culture as well as the Kurdish People’s Protection Units
which defeated IS. They want to destroy the autonomous Kurdish regions of
Syria, a multi-ethnic democracy respecting the rights of women and minorities.
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After protesting outside India House, Kashmiris marched to protest in Trafalgar Square against India's Prime Minister Modi's revocation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.
This article guarantees significant autonomy to the Muslim-majority state
of Kashmir after the Independence partition of India and Pakistan, when
its ruler decided it should became a part of India against the wishes of
many of the people. Kashmiris have been calling for independence, with armed
revolt since 1989 suppressed by torture, deliberate blinding and killings
by a huge Indian occupying force, with around 800,000 military and paramilitary
forces. They call Modi a Hindu fascist and say he has united the country
against India.
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Protesters standing in a small block wearing cow masks in Trafalgar Square called for an end to diary farming which they say is inherently cruel, with milk being stolen from cows and male calves being slaughtered soon after birth.
The protesters call cows 'mothers' and calves 'babies', and they say that we 'steal ' the milk that the cows produce for their calves, failing to tell people that dairy cows have been bred to produce far more milk than their calves can consume, perhaps 7-10 times as much.
Of course many male calves are slaughtered and others are taken away from their 'mother' at an early age. Some calves are raised to produce veal, and female calves to become milk cows. We only have cows on farms because farmers breed them to produce milk for us, and similarly we only have beef cattle because we eat them as meat. Otherwise there would only be a few in zoos.
In traditional agriculture animals are generally treated with respect and
care, not least because of their monetary value, and good husbandry pays
dividends. Some modern intensive practices are certainly cruel and should
be condemned. There are also good arguments for eating less meat to counter
climate change, but much livestock is grazed on areas unsuitable for growing
crops, and the manure they produce is vital for keeping soil healthy.
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Kashmiris protest angrily outside India House after India's Prime Minister Modi revoked Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.
This article guaranteed significant autonomy to the Muslim-majority state
of Kashmir after the Independence partition of India and Pakistan and recognised
the majority Muslim nature of Kashmir whose ruler decided should become
a part of India. Many Kashmiris objected to this and have been calling for
independence, with armed revolt since 1989 suppressed by torture and killings
by a huge Indian occupying force. The protesters say that Modi is a Hindu
fascist and his action has united the country against India.
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I was meeting up with friends for a walk in the city, but went up earlier and took a walk by myself mainly along the foreshore before.
Then we walked around a bit together, visiting a couple of interesting pubs on the route, including the only pub in London which still has a cock-fighting gallery, though the customers now sit where the fight would have taken place.
We ended up with a meal in a pub, but made a terribly bad choice. Avoid
the Sir John Hawkshaw in Cannon Street station. It was understaffed and
has a queuing system (but doesn't say so), offers an extremely limited choice
of food compared to other Wetherspoons and doesn't have toilets - instead
it's a longish walk across the station forecourt to the station toilets
down a flight of stairs.
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Steve Bray and others from SODEM (Stand of Defiance European Movement) protest outside the Cabinet Office in Whitehall where urgent daily meetings are taking place.
They demand Britain should stay in the European Union, saying that we already
have the best deal possible, and that a No-Deal Brexit would be a disaster
for the country. They say that many people have changed their minds now
that they see what Brexit would really mean and that it would only be democratic
to ask the people again .Several groups of people passing by showed their
support for SODEM.
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London CND hold a ceremony 74 years after the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in memory of the victims, past and present also remembering those killed and living with the effects of radiation by the second atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki three days later.
The speeches included a reading in English of the statement made earlier
in the day at the commemoration by the Mayor in Hiroshima. After the of
speeches and songs from Raised Voices peace choir and folk singer and D-Day
veteran Jim Radford and a prayer from Rev Gyoro Nagase, the Buddhist monk
from the Battersea Peace Pagoda, flowers were laid around the commemorative
cherry tree.
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Users of Personal Light Electric Vehicles (PLEVs) protest at Downing St for electric scooters and similar low-powered personal transport devices to be legalised on a similar basis to electric bicycles.
It is an offence to use these low power lightweight vehicles on the road or pavement, although they travel only at similar speeds to human-powered scooters or bicycles. Proponents say they are a green form of transport that replaces polluting vehicles and are the urban transport of the future.
Clearly the current law fails to deal sensibly with PLEVs, and we need sensible regulations to cover the construction and use of them as legal forms of transport. Some tidying up of regulations governing electric bikes and mobility scooters is also needed.
While this was happening, a huge popular cycling event was also taking
place with thousands on bikes and many special lanes barricaded off in central
London. It was disappointing that this didn't appear to be making any point
about the need for more and better cycling facilities in London for the
other 364 days of the year.
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Supporters of Tommy Robinson, in jail for contempt of court, were held for several hours close to the BBC, unable to march because of the action by anti-fascists.
The supporters claim falsely that Robinson is a champion of free speech, jailed for speaking out against Muslim grooming gangs. In fact he was arrested because his activities could have meant the trial he was live-streaming outside would need to be abandoned if he had been allowed to continue. His activity was not journalism, but deliberate provocation by committing contempt of court, interfering with the process of justice.
Many of those convicted of offences against children in the UK have been associated with extreme right groups, including a number of people who have been closely associated with Robinson in groups such as the EDL. Others inspired by or associated with him have carried out terrorist attacks, including driving into a crowd close to Finsbury Park mosque.
A few hundred yards down the road anti-fascist were blocking the route along which the extreme right intended to march. I left them to see what was happening at the BBC, though I decided not to mingle with the protesters as I have often been threatened and a couple of times physically attacked at such events. Very little was happening, with people standing around and a few announcements from a platform with a giant image of Robinson behind. There were perhaps about half as many as with the opposing protest.
I left to go to Whitehall and Parliament Square and saw a few more hanging around the pubs close to where they had been intending to march. After photographing another event there I returned to the BBC hoping to photograph them marching, but they had still not left. Just after I arrived an angry group rushed off towards the Algerian embassy to attack protesters there, but I decided to keep out of the way. The rest were still standing around doing nothing and I gave up and went home. Later I heard that eventually those that hadn't drifted away did march and held a rally close to Downing St.
Anti-racists and Anti-Fascists march in London to stop the racist 'Free Tommy' protesters marching through the city.
The protesters say Tommy Robinson, in prison for deliberate contempt of court, is part of a far-right movement spreading violence across the world, whipping up hatred against Muslims and refugees.
The Anti-fascists set off up Regent St and the Anti-racists joined behind
them. Police stopped them close to Oxford Circus, but they went through
side streets to get close to the 'Free Tommy' event before being stopped
again at Cavendish Square.
I left them for another protest at this point, and by the time I returned
they had dispersed after finishing their protest a few yards beyond the
extreme right protest which had been held for several hours at the BBC by
their action.
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IWGB Cleaners and Facilities Branch picket and protest at exclusive Mayfair private club LouLou's for kitchen porters to be paid a living wage, be treated with dignity, respect and given decent terms and conditions including proper sick pay, holidays and pension contributions.
Recently outsourced to ACT porters want to be returned to direct employment.
There were angry scenes as staff escorted wealthy clients of the £1800
a year club past the picket, particularly when some roughly pushed the protesters
and police warned protesters but not security men or customers who had assaulted
some of them. None of the security staff were wearing the visible SIA door
supervisor licences required under the Private Security Industry Act 2001.
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I continued the walk I started in February around North Woolwich and the entrances to the Royal Docks.
As before I started at King George V DLR, but made my way more directly
to the King George V dock entrance and then took the riverside path across
the lock gates. The Thames Path on the north bank ends officially at East
India Dock, close to Bow Creek, but there are plans for an extension as
the Thames Estuary Path, though little has so far been achieved. The riverside
path here is Section 15 of the Capital Ring and continues to cross the Albert
Dock basin and a little further north to the curiously desolate Armada Green
Recreation Area.
Further progress along the riverside is blocked by the former Beckton gas
works site and the path goes inland to Atlantis Avenue. I left the Capital
Ring to go down Gallions Road and to the Gallions Hotel and then along by
Albert Dock Basin and under Woolwich Manor Way which I then joined to walk
back over the long bridge and return to King George V Station. The Sir Steve
Redgrave Bridge which replaced the old road and bridges over the docks gives
some extensive views.
I was mainly making panoramic images on the walk, but also some more normal
rectilinear views with both wide-angle and telephoto lenses.
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I found myself sitting next to a clean window on my way from Bank to North Woolwich and took a number of pictures.
Later on my way back to Canary Wharf from King George V I was less lucky
and the windows were rather grimy, but I still made a few images.
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People of African origin met in Windrush Square to demand an end of the Maangamizi, the continuing genocide and ecocide of African peoples and Africa on Afrikan Emancipation Day.
After speeches & libations they marched from Brixton to Westminster with a petition calling for an end to acts of violence by Britain and the misuse of taxes and the stolen legacy plundered from Afrika under the British Empire and European Imperialism and for reparations.
The protest was supported by Extinction Rebellion XR Connecting Communities
who marched in an Ubuntu Non-Afrikan Allies bloc.
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Pictures as usual from my journeys around the city took me as usual to
Vauxhall and Nine Elms, but also to White City (thanks to the Piccadilly
line problems stopping services to Ealing Broadway), Westminster, Regent
St, Holborn, the BBC, the SOuth Bank and probably a few other places.
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