XTRA DIARY - Bikers face down City Hall security - No To Mob activists don 'V For Vendetta' masks to protest at council's parking policy
Published: 10 December 2010
TO City Hall on Tuesday night, where activists from No To Mob – a group that campaigns against the council’s parking policy – enlivened a scrutiny meeting.
Many wore masks from the film V for Vendetta, which is about an uprising against a totalitarian authority (to which the campaigners compare Westminster City Council).
Unfortunately City Hall personnel did little to reassure the West End Extra that such comparisons fly in the face of reality.
They harassed our reporter to try and stop him taking pictures. “We have been told photography is banned,” warned one official – but when asked if he meant it was illegal, the official walked away muttering, “don’t ask me that”.
Another security man said our reporter was a “pain in the arse”, aggressively telling him to put his camera away.
Production of a press card did not assuage his anger. Recording equipment was also removed from bikers who were entering the meeting by a receptionist, drawing protests from the two-wheelers.