Britain faces summer of rage - police

by Obama Rulz Mon Feb 23, 2009 8:06 am

Britain faces summer of rage - police

Middle-class anger at economic crisis could erupt into violence on streets

Britain faces summer of rage - police Protestors-clash-with-mou-001

Protesters
clash with police in London in January over Israel's action in Gaza.
Such scenes could become more common sights in the UK. Photograph:
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Police
are preparing for a "summer of rage" as victims of the economic
downturn take to the streets to demonstrate against financial
institutions, the Guardian has learned.Britain's most senior
police officer with responsibility for public order raised the spectre
of a return of the riots of the 1980s, with people who have lost their
jobs, homes or savings becoming "footsoldiers" in a wave of potentially
violent mass protests.Superintendent David Hartshorn, who heads
the Metropolitan police's public order branch, told the Guardian that
middle-class individuals who would never have considered joining
demonstrations may now seek to vent their anger through protests this
year. He said that banks, particularly those that still pay
large bonuses despite receiving billions in taxpayer money, had become
"viable targets". So too had the headquarters of multinational
companies and other financial institutions in the City which are being
blamed for the financial crisis.Hartshorn, who receives regular
intelligence briefings on potential causes of civil unrest, said the
mood at some demonstrations had changed recently, with activists
increasingly "intent on coming on to the streets to create public
disorder".The warning comes in the wake of often violent
protests against the handling of the economy across Europe. In recent
weeks Greek farmers have blocked roads over falling agricultural
prices, a million workers in France joined demonstrations to demand
greater protection for jobs and wages and Icelandic demonstrators have
clashed with police in Reykjavik.In the UK hundreds of oil refinery workers mounted wildcat strikes last month over the use of foreign workers.Intelligence
reports suggest that "known activists" are also returning to the
streets, and police claim they will foment unrest. "Those people would
be good at motivating people, but they haven't had the 'footsoldiers'
to actually carry out [protests]," Hartshorn said. "Obviously the
downturn in the economy, unemployment, repossessions, changes that.
Suddenly there is the opportunity for people to mass protest."It
means that where we would possibly look at certain events and say, 'yes
there'll be a lot of people there, there'll be a lot of banner waving,
but generally it will be peaceful', [now] we have to make sure these
elements don't come out and hijack that event and turn that into
disorder."Hartshorn identified April's G20 meeting of the group
of leading and developing nations in London as an event that could
kick-start a challenging summer. "We've got G20 coming and I think that
is being advertised on some of the sites as the highlight of what they
see as a 'summer of rage'," he said.His comments are likely to
be met with disappointment by protest groups, who in recent weeks have
complained that police are adopting a more confrontational approach at
demonstrations. Officers have been accused of exaggerating the threat
posed by activists to justify the use of resources spent on them.Police
were said to have been heavy-handed at Greek solidarity marches in
London in December and, last month, at protests against Israel's
invasion of Gaza. In August 1,000 officers, helicopters and riot horses
were drafted to Kent from 26 UK police forces to oversee the climate
camp demonstration against the Kingsnorth power station. The massive
operation to monitor the protesters cost £5.9m and resulted in 100
arrests. But in December the government was forced to apologise to
parliament after the Guardian revealed that its claims that 70 officers
had been hurt in violent clashes were wrong. However, Hartshorn
insisted: "Potentially there will be more industrial actions ...
History shows that some of those disputes - Wapping, the miners' strike
- have caused great tensions in the community and the police have had
difficult times policing and maintaining law and order."Both
"extreme rightwing and extreme leftwing" elements are looking to "use
the fact that people are out of jobs" to galvanise support, he said. A
particularly worrying development was the re-emergence of individuals
involved in the violent fascist organisation Combat 18, he said. "They
are using the fact that there's been lots of talk about eastern
European people coming in and taking jobs on the Olympic sites," he
said. "They're using those type of arguments to look at getting
support."Hartshorn said he also expected large-scale
demonstrations this year on environmental issues, with hardcore green
activists "joining forces" with middle-class campaigners over issues
such as airport expansion at Heathrow and Stansted. With the prospect
of angry demonstrations against the economy, that could open the door
to powerful coalitions."All you've got to do then is link in
with the environmentalists, and look at the oil companies. They're seen
to be turning over billions of pounds profit in issues that are seen to
be against the environment."