Hiatus

Firstly, apologies for lack of recent posts, I’m working on a book at the moment which isn’t leaving much time for anything else!

Second, I’ve put togther a website for my local Friends of the Earth group in Stourbridge, including a Green Directory of ethical shops and businesses in the local area. You can visit the site here.

Video shows police attack on man who died at G20 protest

Those involved in the G20 protests in London last week have been widely accused of aggressive, reckless and unlawful behaviour.

And I’m not just talking about the protesters. 

For anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, this video shows an apparently unprovoked police attack on Ian Tomlinson, the 47-year-old man who later died inside police cordons on Wednesday.

The 41 second video – published by the Guardian - shows Tomlinson, who was on his way home from work and not part of the protest, being struck on the upper thigh by a baton-wielding police officer. Tomlinson walks on, hands in pockets, yet moments later same officer is seen to push him forcefully to the floor. Onlookers rush forwards to help him up as the police stand and watch. Minutes later, Tomlinson suffered a heart attack and died.

The police watchdog, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), has launched an investigation into the incident. Officers have claimed that medics attempting to help Tomlinson following his collapse were pelted with bottles thrown by protesters.

George Monbiot has written an interesting blog about police conduct at the G20 protests (Riot police or police rioting?) here.

Anarchy at the G20 (smile for the camera)

After reading yesterday’s newspaper reports I was shocked to find how events at the G20 protests in central London had taken a turn for the worse shortly after I left. 

I was close to the front of the rally on Threadneedle Street when a few reckless ‘anarchists’ started smashing their way into the Royal Bank of Scotland.

However the atmosphere where I was standing, a few metres from the front, was more that of a bunch of curious onlookers than a blood-thirsty mob. 

People cracked jokes and shared cigarettes and those tall enough to see the action shouted a running commentary down to the rest of us vertically-challenged folk. 

When it became clear the rally had come to a standstill I left to try and make my way to the climate camp, where I’d arranged to meet friends. 

Soon afterwards, according to this report, police on horseback charged down Threadneedle Street in an attempt to disperse the crowd. Fighting ensued, with both protesters and police officers suffering bloody injuries. 

G20 and climate camp update #2

Police oversee a 'silent protest' outside the Bank of England

It started as a day of peaceful demonstration, with police and protesters chatting amiably among the sea of colourful tents blockading a busy central London road. 

Many campaigners, who were aiming to raise the profile of climate change, planned to stay the night. 

But around midnight the police turfed the “climate campers” out of Bishopsgate and sent them packing. 

According to one protester, police cordons advanced from Bishopsgate forcing around a hundred campers to retreat around a mile up towards Old Street Underground Station. 

“We brought traffic to a halt at the junction, but finally the weight of the police and traffic broke us up,” she says. 

“It’s a sad thing that none of the bystanders came to join us – after all, we were protesting in the hope of combating problems that will ultimately affect all of us.” 

G20 and climate camp update #1

A man has died behind the police cordon set up to hem thousands of G20 protestors inside central London.  

Police yesterday used the familiar tactic of “kettling”, with chains of police surrounding the streets outside the Bank of England to prevent the protest spreading into a wider area. 

The man, who apparently died of natural causes, collapsed around 7.30pm. Police sent medics through the cordon who found the man had stopped breathing. Bottles were allegedly being thrown as they attempted to resuscitate the man, who is said to be in his thirties. 

G20 and Climate Camp protest photos

G20 Climate Campers vow to stay put

Campaigners taking part in Climate Camp 2009 in London today have vowed to stay put despite police attempts to move them. 

Thousands of protesters stormed Bishopsgate, near Liverpool Street Station, at 12.30pm, blocking off a half-mile stretch of road and setting up a Climate Camp with thousands of tents, banners and bunting. 

The camp is part of a series of protests timed to conincide with the arrival of world leaders for the London G20 summit, with thousands of people taking to the streets to vent their anger about the economic crisis, climate change and the war on terror. 

Yet despite the rows of riot vans and watchful police, the sea of pop-up tents sprawling beneath the sun outside the European Climate Exchange was full of carnival spirit. 

Protesters sold tea and cakes and performed tricks to entertain the crowds while others spoke about environmental concerns using an eco-friendly PA system powered by a bike. 

At around 6pm police attempted to evacuate tents from the area and physically carry protesters away, but it seemed they were outnumbered – the tents went back as fast as police could take them away. 

Climate Camp

Just about to take the tube to the Square Mile for Climate Camp 2009!

I’ve trying something new so will be trying to update Twitter on my phone and I’m not v technically minded so we’ll see how it goes… but see Twitter feed on the right for latest climate camp gossip (if it works…)

You can sign up for alert texts and check all the latest news on the Climate Camp website.

More later…

Lights out for Earth Hour 2009

“Turn on, tune in, drop out,” the LSD-munching pop psychologist Timothy Leary once advised.

But “sign up, switch off, shut down” will be a more appropriate mantra tonight as cities across the globe turn out their lights as part of WWF’s Earth Hour.

Lights out: The Coca Cola strip in Piccadilly Circus will be switched off for only the third time in over 60 years

Sydney Opera House, the Eiffel Tower, Nelson’s Column and the London Eye are among 280 iconic landmarks which have agreed to go fluorescent-free from 8.30pm GMT in support of affirmative action on climate change.

The Coca Cola sign in Piccadilly Circus will be turned off for only the third time since the Second World War.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007 and resulted in a 10 per cent reduction on the electrical grid, saving 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Since then it has grown into global event, a unique opportunity for people from Las Vegas to Istanbul to vote with their light switch for decisive measures to combat global warming.

It has been criticised by some as a tokenistic gesture offering councils and corporations an easy chance to hop on the eco-band wagon (exactly how much energy does the Piccadilly Circus Coca Cola sign burn up in the other 8,759 hours of the year?)

But the aim is not so much the amount of carbon emissions which can be saved in one hour, but the show of support it signifies for a more proactive and comprehensive attitude towards tackling climate change across the globe.

So far 1180 cities have signed up to switch off for Earth Hour, and WWF are hoping for one billion people to show their support.

Will you be one of them?

RSPB give wind farms the go ahead

More wind farms will be built around the UK in coming years after the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) announced today they will no longer object to plans for more turbines, so long as developers stay away from certain sites which are home to rare and important wildlife species.