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. 

Although the Climate Camp appeared fairly relaxed, one protester said they though it would get much more crowded as the G20 protests came to an end, and many campaigners planned to spend the night. 

“I had planned to go home but now I don’t want to leave,” she said. “We need to put climate change back on the agenda and we’re not going anywhere for the next 24 hours at least.” 

Meanwhile in the nearby Square Mile, London’s financial district, more than four thousand protesters marched past empty shops and boarded up banks parading effigies of those which they believe to be to blame for the economic crisis. 

Bankers, predictably, were a particularly harsh target with many campaigners dressed in pin stripe suits, bowler hats and ghoulish masks. 

“Eat the bankers” read one slogan. “This rumpus is sponsored by Job Centre Plus” read another. 

Around 1.30pm tensions boiled over as the rally reached the Royal Bank of Scotland and a few protesters smashed their way I through the windows and began tearing down the curtains inside (a bit scary if you get caught up in it by accident!) 

Meanwhile police barricades at all four exits of the Square Mile prevented anyone from leaving the area, and a police helicopter hovered overhead. 

But inside the Square Mile, away from RBS, the protest had a festival feel to it as both Billy Bragg and Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly performed songs in support of the protests. A brass band marched through the streets and people danced to a PA system pumping loud music outside – of all places – the Bank of England. 

It might have been April Fool’s Day but despite the costumes and face paint sported by many at today’s G2O protest, their message was no joke.

It is likely the media will focus on the destruction at RBS – basically just a small group of anarchists getting carried away – as evidence of the G20 protests getting ‘out of hand’, of an overspill of violence and hatred on the streets. 

In fact it was on the whole a day of peaceful protest, with a real mix of people, from students to pensioners, joining voices to make themselves heard. 

With only 23 arrests (at the time of going to press) out of an estimated six thousand protesters, those willing to cause trouble are clearly in the minority. 

However it will be interesting to see what tonight will bring…