"Dress down to fool G20 rioters, bank staff told in City" - Evening Standard

[Bakunin]

I wonder if that fellow with a green dyed beard is going to be there shouting "peaceful protest" as the horses charge!

Will this be the start of the age-old 'fluffy vs spiky' debate?

Again?

 

[Harold Hill]

saw something in the guardian today about bankers being asked to dress down the article claimed that the last time a similar protest occurred, they poured champagne out of their office windows and photocopied £50 notes...

can't imagine them doing that this time


((((cowering bankers)))))

can't imagine they did that the first time either.

 

[Harold Hill]

whatever, they won't be trying it now will they

There's no open outcry at Liffe anymore so there's no floor dealers in silly jackets there anymore anyway.

 

[gentlegreen]

Is there speculation that drug-crazed rioters will team up with terrorists for whom a bio-chemical weapon is now 'a more realistic possibility' than it was before the latest government terrorism report came out a few days before these G20 protests, hmmmm?

Presumably some of the 60,000 "trained terrorist spotters" will be deployed too.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

This has gone too far now

Just had a check-list e-mail of stuff to do on Wednesday and apparantly we need to 'review smoking policy for the day'

Basically they think it will be too dangerous to nip outside for a fag.

Well unless they'll let me smoke at my desk they can fuck right off.

 

[consumer135]

It would make sense for any 'pin-stripe bloc' to be part of the 'London Bridge Silver horse against Financial crime' since it fits the theme.

Perhaps some city workers will see fit to join in. Paul Wilmott says he will be there waving his "Down With Calibration" banner!
(http://www.wilmott.com/messageview.cfm?catid=3&threadid=68600)

 

[free spirit]

anyone who fancies some sport in the morning just get a few mates together and do a tour of the city, with lots of pointing at buildings, nodding, followed by full on charges at the front doors that stop about a foot away... funny as fuck watching the security piling down the stairs to barracade the doors as you turn nonchalantly away giving them a farewell wave and a message that you'll be back later.

you'll have your own police tail in no time, and confuse the fuck out of the police and security firms who'll be reporting back to hq where they'll be pinning flags into maps or whatever the modern equivalent is.

at least that was how I spent j18 morning, along with some actual protesting... give them enough to think about and they get all confused and it leaves room for some real activism to happen without the kettling

 

[fogbat]

anyone who fancies some sport in the morning just get a few mates together and do a tour of the city, with lots of pointing at buildings, nodding, followed by full on charges at the front doors that stop about a foot away... funny as fuck watching the security piling down the stairs to barracade the doors as you turn nonchalantly away giving them a farewell wave and a message that you'll be back later.

you'll have your own police tail in no time, and confuse the fuck out of the police and security firms who'll be reporting back to hq where they'll be pinning flags into maps or whatever the modern equivalent is.

at least that was how I spent j18 morning, along with some actual protesting... give them enough to think about and they get all confused and it leaves room for some real activism to happen without the kettling

I can see that being a quick way to get nicked on one charge or another, sadly

Sounds like great fun, though

 

[winjer]

I can see that being a quick way to get nicked on one charge or another, sadly

But that leads to ££££ later

 

[free spirit]

I can see that being a quick way to get nicked on one charge or another, sadly

Sounds like great fun, though

not if you do it right...

actually the charging the doors, was more a quick start then stop just to get the reaction from the security, which was kinda unnecessary for half of them coz they'd be straining against the doors the second they laid eyes on us for some reason.

also once you've picked up a police tail, which shouldn't take long, you can use them to find out where your mates are if you get split up... at least the ones following us around obliged when I'd taken a wrong turning somewhere, which was kinda surprising, but I guess we were playing nicely... convo went something like this...

'scuse me officer, I don't suppose you could radio your mates who're following my mates and find out where they are so we can stop wandering around randomly and go and find them?'

'oh, we thought you were checking out all those buildings or something...'

'nah, I'm just lost...'

after walking around the same 3 blocks twice.

 

[lostexpectation]

any group asked the financial workers to join the protest?

 

[lostexpectation]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/mar/30/cctv-london-government-transport-g20

The security operation at this week's G20 summit was thrown into chaos last night when it emerged that the entire network of central London's wireless CCTV cameras will have to be turned off because of a legal ruling.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has ruled that Westminster council's mobile road cameras - a third of the authority's CCTV network - "do not fully meet the resolution standards required" and must be switched off by midnight tomorrow.

The blackout begins on the eve of the summit, when world leaders arrive in the capital and protesters take to the streets.

The council only discovered last week that images from its newly installed £15m traffic cameras do not meet the quality required under the Traffic Management Act, which comes into force on 1 April.

In an urgently drafted letter seen by the Guardian and hand-delivered to the transport secretary, Geoff Hoon, on Friday, the council warns its entire network of wireless cameras will need to be shut down unless the minister finds a way to give special dispensation. "This would have a serious impact on our ability to manage our road network safely, as well as impeding our community protection efforts," the letter states.

 

[Azrael]

The courts order surveillance cameras turned off because they're not intrusive enough!

Modern Britain in a ruling.

 

[editor]

The council only discovered last week that images from its newly installed £15m traffic cameras do not meet the quality required under the Traffic Management Act, which comes into force on 1 April.

Now that's a quality April Fools!

 

[George & Bill]

I like that idea. There could be a 'pin-stripe bloc'. A tightly rolled umbrella and a hard cased briefcase might prove to be useful for self-defence.

This is an idea that surfaces from time to time, and might work if it were not for most protesters labouring under the misaprehension that sticking on a ten-year-old Next suit and old school tie makes them look like a city high-flyer

Perhaps some of South London's bona-fide working-class taylors' shops, low on business with the gentleman gangster in decline, could be drafted in to help?

 

[kabbes]

We just got the following email:

Dear All

We are expecting general disruption to trains and roads and protestors in the area on Wednesday 1st and Thursday 2nd April as a result of the G20 summit.

As with other local businesses we are aiming for “business as usual”. As a contingency, it would be sensible to have identified work you can do at home, if in the event, the potential disruption makes this the most sensible option. Please keep your manager informed, and copy XXX, if you do experience difficulties.

Advice from the police includes:

think about dressing well down
keep mobiles and blackberries well charged with key numbers inputted
consider possible disruption and high people volumes coming through and congregating at city and East transport hubs including particularly: Liverpool Street, Fenchurch Street, Bank and Cannon Street - and interlinking roads
be extra vigilant around visitors and access points
do not drive or park cars in or near any of the planned protest routes

Please let me know if you have any concerns the G20 Timetable is outlined below:-

Wednesday 1 April

11am Groups will converge at London stations Moorgate, Liverpool Street, London Bridge and Cannon Street. Each group goes on a parade to the Bank of England.
Noon Carnival at the Bank of England with live music and street theatre, including the hanging of bankers' effigies. Climate Camp will march on the European Climate Exchange, Bishopsgate.
2pm Stop the War Coalition meets in Grosvenor Square to march on the US embassy, then on to a rally at Trafalgar Square.
4pm Alternative G20 summit at the University of East London.

Thursday 2 April

7am March on the G20 summit in the ExCeL centre by various groups through the day. Giant block of ice left outside the ExCeL Centre. Talk of blocking transport to ExCeL.
11am Stop the War protest meeting at ExCeL centre.

I'm thinking of using it as an excuse to bunk, tbh. 'Oooh, HR, I'm scared of the protesters, I'm going to have to "work at home"...'

 

[kabbes]

Bollocks. Just realised that I have a meeting in Bank at 3:30 on Wednesday. Whoops. Might try to avoid going to that in a suit.

To the extent that I'm worried at all, however, I'm 100x more worried about the police than the protestors. They're the ones likely to charge into a group regardless of what that group are doing.

 

[butchersapron]

"Five held over suspected G20 explosives plot"

More bullshit

edit: i included that Guardian headline on purpose - it's now been chanmged to "Five Britons held over G20 explosives stunt plan"

edit2: back to being a plot:

"Five held over suspected G20 explosives plot"

 

[butchersapron]

"It's political, it relates to political organisations, it's not extreme but it's a different political view. It leads to motives and things like that."

Things like that