TUC protest march: live

[super jumbe]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/multimed...r_1857739c.jpg

Follow our rolling coverage as tens of thousands of teachers, council staff, nurses, students and members of community groups converge on London for a huge demonstration, in the biggest public backlash against the Government's spending cuts since it came to power.



Latest
17.10 In Oxford Circus, many shops are now closed, though shoppers continue to stroll among activists, with the main troublemakers dressed in black, says reporter Ben Leach:
"Many of the shops around Oxford Circus are now closed as hundreds of activists continue to protests outside Topshop. Dozens of police officers are lining the entrance and seven riot vans are parked nearby.
Banners reading "keep warm burn out the rich" are draped from traffic lights and flags depicting che Guevara are being carried by the remaining hard core of protesters.
Shoppers continue to stroll through the area, which is filled mainly with activists, most of whom seem to be either teenagers or in their twenties or early thirties. The main trouble makers are dressed head to toe in black, some wearing face masks, scarves to cover their faces and helmets."
17.00 Police have kettled thousands of protesters in the Piccadilly area, surrounding Fortnum & Mason. From inside the kettle, reporter David Barrett says:
"The police line is advancing from the direction of Arlington Arcade towards Piccadilly. There must be thousands of people contained, and charging towards Piccadilly."
16.55 Reporter Michael Howie sends this dispatch:
"About twenty protesters have clambered onto the balcony at department store Fortnum and Mason on Piccadilly. They climbed up railings on the outside, while others burst into the store and emerged from first floor windows. Alarmed staff took refuge on the second floor, looking down at the dramatic scenes a few feet below.
Signs were daubed on the walls including slogans "tax the rich" while banners singled out Vodafone, Boots and Top Shop - popular targets of the anti-tax evasion group UK Uncut."
16.50 Police report that four officers have been injured, one is being treated in hospital. In total, 13 people have been arrested for criminal damage and public order offences.
16.30 Protesters set fire to large Trojan horse model on the ground in Oxford Circus.
16.20 Reports that 200 or 300 protesters from UK Uncut and the Socialist Workers Party have occupied Fortum & Mason on Piccadilly, with scenes of chaos outside and displays of confectionary and cakes wrecked inside.







Protesters were still joining the march more than an hour after it set off.

[Snowy79]

I'm all for looking after the working classes but most of those reprobates in black need shooting. Don't those tits realise that it's the rich that pay for them to exist. Take away the wealth and they'd be screwed.

They don't have the brains to know that most of the wealthy companies could up sticks and move overseas if they get hit too much. You can bet the workers that were unable to get to work were not compensated as it was classed as an act of terrorism either, nothing like hiting the working class indirectly.

Even the Banks, scum that they are do not require their HQs in mainland UK. They could quite easily operate from some Middle Eastern Tax Haven and pump the tax back into their new Country depriving us of Billions. The reason we are having the cuts is due to lack of money and a Labour Government that borrowed at extortionate rates. Why bite the hand that feeds you.

[Snowy79]

Here is a perfect analogy that most will understand about what happens if you piss the rich off too much:

Ten men go out for beer. The bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. The fifth would pay $1. The sixth would pay $3. The seventh would pay $7. The eighth would pay $12. The ninth would pay $18. The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. He said, "Since you are all such good customers, I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80."
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes, so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men -- the paying customers?
How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his "fair share"? They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay!
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings). The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings). The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings). The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings). The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings). The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four
continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He
pointed to the tenth man, "but he got $10!"
"Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"
"That's true!!"shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only $2 ? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!" The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important.
They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up any more. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

[bonus2010]

Just hope that the proposed cuts in public sector spending means less police officers. The police officers I saw on the TV, just stood about doing nothing and observed vandalism. Hey, I've seen folks being arrested (a night with too much drink) and spending a night in the cells for lot lot less......

[Snowy79]

The Police are learning from mistakes from the past. If they waded into the scum it would be all over the Papers and just feed the Anti-Police propoganda. Now they just wait until the scum go to pick up their Gyros and arrest them.

I was proud of the workers carrying out a peacefull demonstration with no vandalism, then the scum arrived and started throwing stones and fireworks. There were women and children caught up in it. It's about time the peacefull demonstrators turned on the scum and gave them a good kicking. Who do they think is going to pick up the bill for the Police presence and destruction. The tax payer will pick up the Police bill and the customers will pick up the bill for the vandalsim to the shops. The Directors certainly aren't going to pay for it they'll just up prices to cover the cost.

At the end of the day if the majority were bothered by certain businesses they'd take their business elsewhere and the Companies would fold. Obviously the majority are quite happy with the service they're getting as some of the Companies are turning over Billions.

[bonus2010]

Ha! Ha!... I'm needing Police that can do the job they're paid to do... not learners mate. I see the UK is helping out Libya... maybe the UK could ask Mr Gadafi to lend some of his security forces to police the protests in Britian..... All I seen tonight was a bunch of cowards in high visability jackets with the letters 'POLICE' standing around with their hands in their pockets doing nothing.... No surprises really... they're all just lazy council workers afterall...

[Snowy79]

Don't get me wrong I'm all for having Snipers take the scum bags out then if the families use the European Courts to get compensation just ensure the cost is split up between the ones that get arrested for vandalism. All costs for the vandalism should also be split up between those arrested and again either their wages deducted or all benefits withheld until the costs are covered. This should wake the scum up.

[SOB60]

Well it was another typical Protest March, where the law abiding Official Protestors point was once again marred by the Infraction Groups that turn up un announced and are only there to disrupt, vandalised and demise the real point of the protest for there own publicity.
I think the Police handled the matter with the highest proffesionalism, learning from previous mistakes and not wading in to incite further outbreaks of violance.
There were Men, Women and children in the official protest there to highlight the effects of the cuts, of which my wife is one of those affected.
They want to use Smart Water at these events and spray the trouble makers with it then turn on a big UV light and watch the barstewards glow in the dark you can't escape that stuff.

[Bulld0g]

The reason we are having the cuts is due to lack of money and a Labour Government that borrowed at extortionate rates. Why bite the hand that feeds you.

No your wrong. The reason we are having cuts is because of the billions of pounds of unpaid taxes by corportate tax dodges. If these companies paid their bills then there wouldn't be the need to make cuts. Bite the hand that feeds you, my arse.

[Canker_Canison]

Let us not forget that some of these police officers themselves, could be looking at redundancy or loss of pay through cancelled overtime.

The police cannot strike. What better way to support an action you cannot undertake yourself, than by doing the bare minimum to assure their accountability.

But the main trouble makers should of been shot on site by snipers.

[C64]

What better way to support an action you cannot undertake yourself, than by doing the bare minimum to assure their accountability.

Spot on.

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