WEST END TO BE HIT BY CUTS PROTESTS - Police warn ‘separate’ groups against violence during TUC March for the Alternative
Published: 25 March 2011
by JOSH LOEB
THE heart of Westminster will be rocked by the largest protest since the Iraq War tomorrow (Saturday), with activists planning Tahrir Square-style sit-ins in Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and Hyde Park.
Hundreds of chartered buses and trains will deliver protesters from across the country into the West End and at least 500,000 marchers are expected in Piccadilly and Whitehall.
Business leaders this week sought to play down the potential impact on trade, suggesting it would be “business as usual” in Oxford Street – but one insider told West End Extra: “As if UK Uncut aren’t going to target Topshop and Vodafone!”
Organisers of the March for the Alternative – Jobs, Growth, Justice, which kicks off in Victoria Embankment at 11am – say they want banks to pay a “Robin Hood tax” to support public services hit hard by spending cuts.
They want the government to close loop-holes that allow rich individuals and big corporations to escape paying all their tax.
The march has been called by the TUC, but Westminster Unison secretary Stephen Higgins said the protesters would be “a broad church” and that some groups were keen to focus on flagship shopping streets.
He said: “I think we are going to see a lot of action around companies who are deemed not to be contributing to bringing down the deficit as much as the rest of us.”
UK Uncut’s website advertises “simultaneous occupations of tax-dodgers and banks the length of Oxford Street” at 2pm.
Business federation the New West End Company said shops were not planning to close or even to erect hoardings, but security measures had been taken to minimise disruption.
The National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, which played a prominent role in organising last year’s student protests, has called for a 24-hour occupation of Trafalgar Square and other central landmarks may be occupied.
Bernard Goyder, campaigns officer at the School of Oriental and African Studies, said: “One of the central symbols of the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings was reclaiming public areas for public use rather than having them corporatised or privatised or controlled by the state. We take inspiration from what is happening in the Middle East.”
At a media briefing Met Police assistant commissioner Lynne Owens said she was working closely with the TUC and that containment of protesters would be “very much a tactic of last resort”.
“It is important that we appropriately set the mood for this day. The TUC are planning for a family-friendly peaceful protest and we will do all we can to facilitate this. However, we would be naïve to ignore the chatter on some public forums and of, course, we have to plan for separate autonomous groups who choose not to be part of the TUC protest. I must stress that strong views can never legitimise violence and, while we are planning for a peaceful day, we will not hesitate to respond speedily to any criminal and violent behaviour.”