Occupy the London Stock Exchange - live coverage
Join us for continuing live coverage of the worldwide protests against corporate greed as the Occupy movement takes to the streets of London's financial district
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Participants in a march organised by Occupy Wall Street walk through the financial district in New York. Photograph: Tina Fineberg/AP
There are reports that Julian Assange has been arrested at the Occupy London protest.
Jen Robinson, a lawyer with firm Stephen Finers and Innocent, tweets: "Here with #assange and police take him under section 60AA for wearing a mask to get into demo. Crazy." Despite the thousands of protesters gathered outside, it's still business as usual for St Paul's cathedral, writes Lisa O'Carroll.
Staff tried to shepherd a bride and her father into the cathedral just across the road from the riot police. They arrived in a green and White volkswagon van and were ushered in through a side entrance.
The New York Times has a report on the protests in Asia and Euope today.
Most events drew modest numbers across Asia — the largest crowd was in Sydney, Australia, where some news reports estimated up to 800 people were in attendance. Rallies in Hong Kong, Melbourne, Australia, Seoul, Taipei and Tokyo drew a few hundred people each.
In Sydney, several hundred protesters, some carrying signs with slogans as disparate as "We are the 99%" and "Capitalism is Killing our Economy," packed onto one of the art-deco style public thoroughfares outside the headquarters of the Reserve Bank of Australia in Sydney's financial district. The atmosphere was lively, with a brass band providing music and hand-drawn chalk artworks springing up on the sidewalk.
The mood of the protest has changed dramatically as riot police move in to kettle the demonstrators, says Mark Townsend.
He Tweets: "St Paul's completely kettled. First arrests. Legal observers cannot access to "prevent breach of peace". Rapid mood change."Lisa O'Carroll adds that legal observers say one person has been arrested but this has not been confirmed.
The police are now changing into full riot gear, suggesting they may be about to adopt more forceful tactics with the protesters, says Mark Townsend.
He Tweets: "Dozens of police changing into full riot garb. New Met commissioner pledged last wk to "win big days of action." Strong tactics ahead." The Associated Press has a brief summary of some of the protests elsewhere in the world today.
In Frankfurt, around 5,000 people took to the streets to protest in front of the European Central Bank.
Hundreds marched through the Bosnian city of Sarajevo carrying pictures of Che Guevara and old communist flags that read "Death to capitalism, freedom to the people."
Several thousands are expected to protest in Rome a day after Premier Silvio Berlusconi survived a confidence vote.
Hundreds of people also joined peaceful protests in Sydney, Tokyo, Manila, Hong Kong and Seoul.
There's a more visible police presence around Paternoster square but still no sign of officers kettling protesters, writes Lisa O'Carroll.
Police reinforcements now being drafted on New Gate street, home of the the London Stock Exchange, but for no apparent reason. Crowds swelling into the thousands but everyone is still milling round the area amiably with the occasional burst of sirens.
Mark Townsend adds via Twitter: "Seven vans, riot gear unloaded Newgate St. Not sure why, couldn't seem more relaxed." The police have just closed St Paul's tube station as the crowds in the narrow streets surrounding it gather chanting "our streets, our streets", writes Lisa O'Carroll.
Lisa O'Carroll has been speaking to a Spanish protester who has joined today's demonstration in London.
Tamara Wildash, 30, from Castellon in Spain, said she was protesting in solidarity with her friends and family who were also on the streets at home.
"It's very bad in Spain; 40% of young people are unemployed and salaries are very bad, really low and life is difficult. I was reading in a paper the other day that 1m families in Spain do not have an income, not in from the government and that is very sad," she said.
Castellon is a city of 200,000, 800 miles from Madrid and relied heavily on its porcelain tiling industry for employment.
Wildash came to London three weeks "for a better life" and says she had not future at home.
"Almost all the factories are closing down. It's not only young people who are affected, it's families and old people."
There's a rich international flavour to the London protests, writes Mark Townsend.
A South Korean protester wearing a mask holds a banner during the Occupy Seoul rally as part of the worldwide protest Photograph: Park Ji-Hwan/AFP Jungmin Choi, 40, from Seoul, South Korea, said she'd arrived in London several months later and was dismayed to find the economic disparity in the UK as pronounced as her homeland. "The poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer, it is the same here. The world is an unhappy place," said Choi, an intern at a UK-based international peace group.
Here's a gallery of some of the protests going on around the world today calling for democratic reform and an overhaul of the global financial system.
Here's another picture of the protest in London from Twitter. This photo shows the polite standoff between police and protesters at the entrances to Paternoster Square.
Occupy London protesters gather outside the London Stock Exchange. Photograph: Lisa O'Carroll for the Guardian Lisa O'Carroll has just sent through this update from Paternoster Square, home of the London Stock Exchange: "Protesters have now moved on mass to Paternoster Square chanting, "We are the 99%"."
This is a reference to the 99% of people the Occupy movement says have paid a dear price so that 1% could become the wealthiest people in the world.She adds that a well prepared protester has just renamed Paternoster Square Tahrir Square – a sign of the Occupy movement's solidarity with the pro-democracy campaigners in the uprisings across the Arab world.
My colleague Lisa O'Carroll has sent through this update from St Paul's Cathedral.
About 200-300 protesters have gathered in from of St Paul's as part of the London protest against corporate greed. There seems to be as many media present as protesters.
Paternoster Square, which the organisers hope to occupy, has been closed to the public with private security guards issuing warnings that people could be arrested if they try to enter.
The police presence is quite muted. They're keeping their distance – in groups of twos and threes – and there's no sign of kettling or anything more sinster.
The general good humour and camaraderie of the crowd is helped by the glorious sunshine and music.
The protesters are very aware that this is an international day of protest. They're hoping to raise awareness of the adverse impact of the global financial system and build up a global movement.
Mark Townsend has this update from the assembly point outside St Paul's Cathedral:
He Tweets: "Hundreds now sitting in bright sunshine on steps of St Paul's. Occupation of a global landmark has begun."Paternoster Sq by contrast deathly quiet. High Ct injunction banning entry granted yesterday by justice peter smith."
Occupy London protesters on Saturday gather outside the stock exchange. Photograph: Lisa O'Carroll for the Guardian My colleague Mark Townsend has sent through this dispatch from the starting point of the London protest:
Protesters are starting to assemble beneath the shadow of St Paul's cathedral ahead of a planned occupation in the City of London.
Energised by the success of similar tactics in New York, organisers are hoping to occupy Paternoster Square, home of the London Stock Exchange. Scores of police are currently inside the square alongside signs warning the site is private property and that any "licence" to enter can be "revoked forthwith."
Several thousand protesters are expected to congregate throughout the day and have been encouraged to bring tents. Those already gathered expect the policing strategy to be one of swift dispersal, aware that the successful occupation of New York's Zuccotti Park shows that the longer demonstrators remain the harder it is to shift them.
The worldwide protests, which combine anger at the bailout of the financial sector with disquiet at the faltering global economy and increased inequality, have their roots in mass marches earlier this year in Spain. The 15-M movement was the harbinger of the massive Israeli protests in the summer and the Occupy Wall Street movement in the US.
Naomi Colvin, supporter of the Occupy the London Stock Exchange Movement, explained the movement's concerns to BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning:We are concerned about the role the financial services industry plays in this country – and the relationship between the financial services industry and government.The first UK event took place in Manchester this month, timed to coincide with the Conservative party conference in the city. Up to 30 people remain in tents in the city's Peace Gardens in St Peter's Square. About a dozen other events are planned for Saturday around the UK, including Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol, Norwich, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
We need a flourishing financial services sector in order to recover as a country but what happened in 2008 is not a sign of a flourishing industry. It's hard to think of failure on a more catastrophic scale. It's difficult to have faith that that kind of thing couldn't happen again, which isn't good three years on.
Among events in other countries, 1,300 people have pledged via Facebook to occupy a central plaza in Sydney, with similar events planned for Saturday in Melbourne, Taipei, Seoul and Hong Kong. This website has a map and details of all today's protests. The global movement has issued a manifesto, endorsed by Naomi Klein and Noam Chomsky, among others, calling for a democratisation of the global finance system and mentioning the Arab spring as an inspiration for mass action.
Welcome to the Guardian's live coverage of the continuing and growing worldwide protests against the global financial system and corporate greed. This is David Batty – you can follow me on Twitter @David_Batty.
Today the Occupy movement, which has been protesting in New York for the past month, comes to the UK with a march on the London Stock Exchange. The demonstration in the city of London comes as G20 finance ministers are meeting in Paris to grapple with the eurozone crisis.Campaigners are to gather outside St Paul's Cathedral at midday on Saturday before marching the short distance to Paternoster Square, home of the Stock Exchange, as well as the London head office of investment bank Goldman Sachs. There will be live video from the protest from midday.
The protest has been organised on Facebook and Twitter pages that between them have picked up more than 15,000 followers. The organisers of Occupy London say they "intend to highlight and address social and economic injustice in the UK and beyond, as part of a global movement for real democracy."
My colleagues Mark Townsend (@TownsendMark) and Lisa O'Carroll (@lisaocarroll) will be at the London demonstration. It is one of a series of events planned around the UK as part of a global day of action, with 800-plus protests promised so far worldwide.
We'll be bringing you rolling coverage of the London demo and keeping you updated on the situation in New York, where the Occupy Wall Street protesters were yesterday celebrating after a planned "clean-up" of their camp in Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan was called off. We'll be handing over to our colleagues in New York this evening, who will have a new live blog on the continuing protests there.
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- Live tweets from Zuccotti Park in New York
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Comments in chronological order (Total 167 comments)
http://the-alternative.co.uk/news/occupy-london-live-streams-video/
Good luck to you today in London.
thanks
A mature discussion needs to take place in this country about where we are going. Most people are sick and tired of seeing the same old political parties bending over backwards to help big business and the banks with incentives, tax breaks and bailouts while ever more children in this country are going to bed hungry as poverty increases.
Why does government do nothing while 98 of the top 100 FTSE listed companies offshore profit for tax avoidance purposes but bully and attack the poorest and most vulnerable in society, the disabled, the young, the unemployed...
State welfare for the richest in society at the expense of the vast majority is undemocratic, immoral and smacks of totalitarianism, the bullies and their methods need to be exposed and confronted.
Court Injunctions notwithstanding.
Also.. it's Saturday, the LSE isn't open.
I was beginning to think that the Banks really had got away with the biggest theft of all time. People are finally waking up.
Let's hope the London coppers are restrained in their response - no more Ian Tomlinsons.
Mudhutter: if there's no right of access (and there isn't) then that's it. There's no right of way over Paternoster Square even if you'd like there to be. Rights don't emerge from wishful thinking.
Conantheballbaering (sic) the current govt can no more act to capture & tax offshore earnings than its predecessor because the right to redomicile is enshrined in EU law. So if you start trying to tax earnings made elsewhere you lose even the headquarters of the companies and your tax base erodes even further. This could be changed IF all major countries wanted to change it otherwise just whistling in the wind. If of course profits are made in the UK then they can be taxed and there are some glaring loopholes (e.g. the taxation of private equity- why do you think private equity pirates such as Ronnie Cohen and Nigel Doughty were such huge donors to Labour?
Now, in North America, OWS, 85 cities are having demonstrations and the movement is spreading around the world.
Perhaps this is the harbinger of the People's Revolution,
Power to the people.
Well when the Chairman of Barclays has a seat on the board of the BBC [1] and no one sees a problem with that, should we be surprised?
I listened to Rory Bremner's new Radio 4 prog earlier in the week. Considering the potential material, it was hopeless. But when the guilty are in control, should we be surprised?
Here's a link to a couple of minutes of Youtube video that purports to be unaired Fox footage from Occupy Wall Street, allegedly between a clearly outclassed Fox interviewer and an Occupy activist who comes across as a lighter weight (physically) Michael Moore. Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yrT-0Xbrn4
[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/biographies/biogs/directors/marcus_agius.shtml
(Epic trolling bro'.)
Impossible .... the powers that be have too much invested in portraying these grass-roots movements as violent (look at Ukuncut in F&M for example).
The cops need a bit or argy bargy to justify the helicopters, mounted police and kettling. It they need a bit of trouble, they can simply escalate confrontations or kettle (kettling guarantees trouble through frustration).
The media are NOT interested in peaceful demos (for example, last weekend's Block the Bridge - 3K peaceful ppl and NO PRESS) ... broken heads and broken windows sell newspapers. Sky reporters caught paying kids to "smash a few windows for the cameras" on the student protests.
The government need a bit of violence so they can dismiss the whole movement as thugs and criminals. Undercover agent provocateurs (for example Mark Stone/Kennedy) can always provide some violent impetus if the demo looks too peaceful.
It was ever thus...
Christchurch Court
10-15 Newgate Street
London
EC1A 7HD
and pass on your best wishes to the guys at Goldman Sachs.
Good luck and play nice.
People power, must force governments to do the bidding of the people and not allow governments to tell us, the electorate, what is to be done.
GOOD LUCK TO THE DEMONSTRATORS - down with corporate and banking greed which have ruined this country.
In bad times their losses are bourne by the taxpayer and the effects of their failure are so huge that they continue to hold all the cards.
This system isn't capitalism, socialism or any other system mankind has devised in the past. This is totally new. Companies that make very bad decisions must live with the consequences as individuals do ( and countries ) These large entities are operating outside the normal paramators that govern how things normally resolve themselves.
These protests are vital in opening everybodys eyes to the very real and present danger to democracy if these entities are allowed to develope even further.
Good luck to you all.
It looks and sounds rather chaotic- but then so is life.
70% tax on those earning 1 mil plus
5% sales tax on property
50% profit tax on property that is bot tour mani residence
Corp tax up to 40%
Pledges to build 2 ml new social homes by 2020.
Armed services reduce to the size of Denmark.
Unconditional apology and withdrawal from Iraq and Aghan.
Free UNI education.
Restoration of EMA
wish I was there, even booked the day off but bloody trains have messed up.
15 October 2011 12:38PM
Send in the army to disperse this bunch of unemployed losers. They speak for no one but bone idle benefit scroungers and public sector spongers. If any disruption is caused to normal hard working Londoners, they should face the full force of our armed forces.
__________________________
How do you know they are unemployed, the majority of those UKuncut protesters arrested in Fortnum and Masons were employed. You say they speak for no one but "bone idle benefit scroungers and public sector spongers". I think you'll find they are protesting on behalf of the 99% of people who are worse off in real terms because governments continually pander to the incredibly wealthy 1%. How can you call nurses, firemen and the police public sector spongers? I think most people would agree they provide a value for money service. It appears you care for "normal hardworking Londoners", then why don't you care that they are having to work harder, for longer, for less?
What's really fascinating about it though is who is involved. Fox news are trying to paint it as an 'Obama' led thing - which is hilarious as Obama is more Wall St friendly than Bush ever was (Bush was the oil and war man - Obama is big finances man). In reality the people on the ground are diverse. There are some left wing libertarians, right wing libertarians, communists, greens and a lot of people who might not identify themselves as anything in particular but who are absolutely fed up. Ron Paul said the other day that it was wrong to paint these people as 'liberals' in the sense of being hardcore Democrat supporters. They're a much more mixed bunch and that they are coming together over this issue must strike at least a tiny note of terror into the hearts of the establishment.
assumption of innocence, being charged, trial before a jury of ones peers etc is so out of date compared to lynch law
It appears PressTV is about to be closed down in the UK by Of Com .. but never mind we can still get Fox news and loadsa Porn ..
I wouldn't have such a sneery attitude if I were you. I am not saying this as a threat - honestly - more as a bit of friendly advice. Things can change so quickly. Now I don't think they will in this country - things aren't bad enough - yet. But IF there is a collapse in the euro zone, IF there is a major bank run. If the banks need yet MORE money and cuts bite even deeper and - most of all - IF that youth unemployment keeps on ticking up and ticking up - you cannot know what will occur or where things will end - none of us can.
Those of us who have a healthy awareness of history and how many times in the past nations have gone - overnight - from rising tensions but seeming order to outright chaos, social breakdown and civil war even (or revolutions) at least will be mentally prepared. You ought to be just a little less sneering. And maybe even start to ponder if the behaviour of the neo-cons and the financial sector is actually even in your own long term best interests.
Meanwhile, nothing on the BBC yet.
"Revolution isn't waiting around for the ripe fruit to fall"
What's the betting it's a ragtag bunch of hippies, students, union activists and the unemployed...
Paternoster Square. Why occupy there ? Bishopsgate is up the road and all the banks are there or canary wharf ?
And your point is.... ?
Protesters .... you are the 1%. The rest of british society cares more about contributing, working hard for what they do, living within their means, not passing on debt to their children irresponsibly. Taking part in society rather than lobbing rocks at those that have been more successful out of envy and spite.
Crawl back under the rocks which you came out of and ask who pays for al your benefits and public sector jobs ??
Hi, I am going to nip down to OccupyBristol on College Green later to see what's going on. Will try and get on here and put in an update. If you want me to phone in any updates could u dm me the no to get hold of you on? Ta. I need to charge my phone before I go down. I'll be tweeting, you can find me on Twitter as UrsulaWJ.
Cheers all.
http://www.businessinsider.com/what-wall-street-protesters-are-so-angry-about-2011-10?op=1
It would be interesting to see a similar analysis for the UK
Where were you when house prices rose from something affordable to the obscene levels they are today?
Now some people in other countries are staring at the consequences of what happens when their country is run badly, and we're just behind them.
A few protests - violent or otherwise, won't make the problem go away. Sorry.