Inequality, Democracy Camp & the Blessed Sacrament – On Saturday 18th October 2014 over 80,000 folks marched in London to name for employees to share within the financial restoration which has seen an excellent improve in wages of chief executives whereas employees have misplaced out. Later I went to Parliament Sq. the place the Democracy Camp lastly took over the world. When police left, I left to {photograph} a Catholic spiritual procession.
Britain Wants A Pay Rise – Embankment
I walked alongside the Embankment a few hours earlier than the march was attributable to begin and already it was starting to refill with marchers, and I returned later from photographing Democracy Camp protesters in Parliament Sq. simply in time to catch the tip of a photocall with TUC Basic Secretary Frances O’Grady in entrance of a bus lined with a inexperienced banner with the message ‘Britain Wants a Pay Rise’ and folks holding giant white numbers 1,7 and 5.
The hole between wealthy and poor is widening within the UK, with firm chief executives in 2014 getting 175 instances the pay of the typical employee. Wealth can be massively unequally divided, with the “the richest 50 households within the UK held extra wealth than half of the UK inhabitants” by 2023. Solely 8 of the 37 Group for Financial Co-operation and Growth nations are actually much less equal than the UK.
Ultimately the march set off, and after photographing the beginning of the march I stayed in place to {photograph} the remainder of the march because it got here previous me.
“On the entrance have been the foremost unions, the well being employees and the lecturers, the firefighters and extra, a reminder of how a lot we nonetheless depend upon unionised employees regardless of the largely profitable assaults by Thatcher and later governments which have nearly eradicated the unions in lots of areas.”
“Additional again the marchers have been extra various, and I met fairly extra folks I knew, together with these with CND, Focus E15, Occupy London and different radical actions.”
I saved taking photos as folks got here previous me for round an hour and 1 / 4, when folks have been nonetheless coming previous however it was near the tip. Somewhat than proceed with them to Hyde Park the place the ultimate rally could be beginning I thought of taking the Underground – it will most likely be over earlier than these marchers arrived. However I made a decision I had sufficient photos of the occasion and went as a substitute to Parliament Sq. to see what was occurring on the Democracy Camp.
Many extra photos at Britain Wants A Pay Rise.
Democracy Camp Takes the Sq. – Parliament Sq.
Once I arrived the tense standoff between police and protesters across the edges of the grassed space was persevering with. Lots of the protesters had quickly left the sq. to hitch in with the TUC march however have been starting to reach again.
One group “from UK Uncut got here into the sq. dancing to the sound of a music centre on a buying trolley. As they danced on the pavement in entrance of the statue of Churchill, Westminster Council officers prompted police into motion and along with one of many Heritage Wardens the police moved to aim to grab the sound system.”
“Democracy campers linked arms to make it tough for the warden and police to achieve the system” however finally the group have been surrounded and “Martin Tuohy confirmed his ID as Senior Westminster Warden at Westminster Metropolis Council and along with one other worker grabbed the system with police trying on.”
After some tense argument the UK Uncut group have been allowed to depart the sq. together with their sound gear with the warning that until they took it away from Parliament Sq. it will be taken from them.
Extra folks arrived from the TUC march, the place some had carried “two giant wooden and cloth towers, one with the phrases POWER and OCCUPY and the opposite the phrase DEMOCRACY. Along with different protesters they ran onto the grass sq. and raised the towers“
Others joined them together with some carrying a protracted ‘Actual Democracy Now!’ banner and the rally started.
The primary speaker was “Labour MP John McDonnell. Among the many different audio system have been Occupy’s George Barda, environmentalist Donnachadh McCarthy and Russell Model, who after talking posed for images along with lots of these current. “
The sudden invasion of the grass had taken the police and Heritage Wardens without warning, they usually had been unable to do something to stop it. However throughout the rally police started “massing across the sq. in blocks of round 20, clearly posed in a navy trying formations able to run onto the sq..” In addition to maybe 200 peculiar police, reinforcements arrived “arrived with two bigger teams of blue-capped TSGs clearly spoiling for a combat.”
“Then the police immediately began to vanish whereas Model was talking. Maybe somebody had realised that with Russell Model speaking, any assault on the protesters would have generated large and largely unfavourable media protection. A lot better to come back again late at night time and do it after the mass media had left (which they did.)”
Nothing appeared more likely to occur till a lot later, so I left for one more occasion.
Extra at Democracy Camp takes the Sq..
Procession of the Blessed Sacrament – Westminster Cathedral to Southwark Cathedral
I arrived simply in time to see the procession emerge from Westminster Cathedral – no images was allowed inside.
I adopted it down the street to Lambeth Bridge the place they stopped for a change of gown as Auxiliary Bishop Paul Hendricks placed on his gown to hold the sacrament in Southwark diocese.
I left the procession on the south finish of the bridge to catch a bus again to Waterloo and make my means house.
Procession of the Blessed Sacrament.
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London’s Industrial Heritage – London Pictures
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Tags: 175, 2014, anarchists, Blessed Sacrament, Britain Wants a Pay Rise, Catholic procession, CND, Democracy Camp, Donnachadh McCarthy, FBU, Focus E15, Frances O’Grady, George Barda, well being professionals, heritage wardens, inequality, John McDonnell, London, London Pictures, march, Matt Wrack, occupy london, pay hole, peter Marshall, police, Energy, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament, Actual Democracy Now, wealthy and poor, Russell Model, Southwark Cathedral, lecturers, TSG, TUC march, UK Uncut, wealth, Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Council
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