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3,000 police on alert for sand-pit protests to block summit
Justin Davenport, Crime Correspondent20.03.09
THOUSANDS of riot police are to tackle G20 protesters who plan to use giant sand pits to bring London to a standstill.
Up to 3,000 officers will be on duty for the two days of next month's summit of world leaders. They are preparing to face an alliance of radical protest groups who they believe are plotting to use trucks to dump huge quantities of sand in the streets.
Senior police sources say the protesters plan to bring children to play in the giant sand pits, making it impossible for officers to use force to remove them.
The demonstrations, centred on the City, could be on a scale not seen since the height of the May Day protests of the mid-Nineties. At the same time Scotland Yard is involved in security for the leaders of 20 countries, including President Barack Obama, attending the summit on 2 and 3 April at the ExCel centre in Docklands.
The £10 million operation for the summit is the biggest yet mounted by Scotland Yard with Mr Obama arriving on 31 March.
Scotland Yard, which is co-ordinating an operation involving six forces, said it was expecting simultaneous protests at several locations across the capital.
Specialist police climbers will be on standby to tackle demonstrators planning to scale tall buildings. One group, Climate Camp, will set up in the City in an attempt to highlight the cost of global warming and what they claim is inaction by business on the issue. This group alone could attract up to 2,000 protesters, some of whom are meeting this weekend to discuss tactics.
Officers also fear a new development in which thousands of students could also take to the streets to join the protests.
One of the key organisers is believed to be a senior lecturer at the University of East London.
Police say they are seeing a re-emergence of protest groups such as Reclaim the Streets and The Wombles. They are forming alliances with new groups such as Fossil Fools and Financial Fools.
All police leave in London has been cancelled for the summit.
Officers will work more than 10,000 shifts to deal with the protests and other events, including a Mexican state visit in the days leading up to the summit. The Yard's entire firearms team is also being deployed, with armed undercover officers mingling in the crowds as well as snipers on rooftops.
Police say that during the summit they will be involved in the security of 40 diplomatic groups.
Exact details of how they will protect the world leaders as they travel in convoys from central London to the ExCel centre in Docklands are being kept a closely guarded secret. However it is understood there will be unprecedented security arrangements which will involve the closure of sections of the Docklands Light Railway to create a secure route for convoys.
A number of the foreign protection teams are also expected to be given Home Office permission to carry guns to protect their leaders.
Commander Bob Broadhurst, who is organising the Scotland Yard operation, said: "The number of protected delegations and the number of protests combining means that the scale of these events will be hugely challenging.
"We are deploying our best and most experienced officers to deal with these events and we are highly experienced in handling large-scale protests. We also have a very flexible plan to deal with this."
Reader views (32)
I live in the area and i wont be staying indoors just to accomodate these muppets. If im stopped by armed police i'll simply tell them to get lost! I pay their salary with my taxes let's not forget.
I wont lose my freedom over a bunch of misfits and id like to see any copper try and take me down without a fight. My grandad fought in the 2nd world war so i could have freedom and freedom i shall have.
Who do .these so called 'leaders' think they are? Seriously, don't put up with it, don't carry ID either. These people are the intruders in my home, not the other way round.
- Andy Rake, London, UK
Ha ha I hope they bring one to my street - that would be the A5, just on the edge of the 3 of the crappest boroughs in London - Brent, Barnet and Camden - it'l take em 12 months to decide whose job it is to remove the sand as the borough division lines run down the middle of the road.
- Real, London
This is the level of security you'd expect were the IPL Tournament to be held in London. Ridiculous. And who do we have to thank for this heightened security. Why , none other than the IRA and Al Quida and the Countryside Alliance. If they had not got up to their dirty tricks, Britain would have been a more open society. There is only one word for such people.
- Dhanraj, basildon
More ego exercising for the useless fool Brown. He won't listen to anybody so why bother hosting a summit? He certainly doesn't listen the public otherwise he would be long gone from the shambles called a government.
- Simon Peters, Birmingham
Nobby Clark i agree, a cruise ship would be perfect, heading towards the Burmuda Traingle.
- Yvonne, harrow Weald
Sandpits?! I bet Winston Churchill is spinning in his grave. This is NOT what he meant by fighting them on the beaches!
- Peter M, London, UK
Viva les Protesters
- Suusi M-B, Harpenden, Herts
Crash Gordon needs his photo opportunity to prove he's saved the world.
More spin and more lies at huge expense to us all
- Antonia, London
Quote: Nobby Clark, Perth, Scotland
The leaders of the G20 should be put on a cruise ship and have their jolly in the middle of the Atlantic. Or preferably, the bottom of it.
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That makes very good sense Nobby; Harold Wilson did that with Ian Smith with his UDI declaration etc.
From the security point of view; all the political eggs would be in one basket; just the same as being in one basket in London; but well away from people and trouble on the ocean somewhere etc.
But that is too simple for politicians and the security services; they probably prefer the publicity and attention they get; doing it all in crowded cities.
- Mickyinlondon, london
10 Million pounds for this summit. People are loosing their jobs by the hundreds, some are barely able to make ends meet and they have to read or watch the media flood the airwaves with coverage of a summit which to be quite honest half the population could not give a toss about anyway. Of course the Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper will be attending, what will this be costing the Canadian tax payer?
- Roger Allen, St.Albert, Alberta, Canada
A "£10 million operation" to deal with trucks dumping sand? Wouldn't it be more productive and less expensive to integrate the voices, ideas, and leadership of the protests into the official dialog?
It is sad to think that children playing in the sand could represent such a powerful threat.
- Matthew, Los Angeles, CA
Regardless of your opinion of whichever policies/agendas are going to be upheld during this summit, it is irresponsible and selfish to endanger children by causing them to play in the streets as a ploy to further YOUR personal agenda.
- Farace Wood, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
What maniac decided the venue for this summit should be slap-bang in the middle of one of the most densely populated - and deprived - areas in the country? Us local residents are basically being told to stay indoors or carry 2 forms of ID and expect to be stopped by armed police if we dare to walk our own streets. This alone could cause more trouble than any amount of protesters, locals are absolutely fuming at all of this. The powers that be should site these summits somewhere out of the way, somewhere that can be 'defended' more easily, and with less disruption to those of us who need to go about our daily business.
- Teddy, London, UK
The article referred to May Day, but I thought that it had been banned in the UK because it was a pagan holiday.
- Mark Wright, Milan, Italy
if the old bill are poised to defend sand pits, does that mean community officers and city guardians will battle for climbing frames, swings and slides?
those delinquent toddlers can be quite a handful and some of those babies will throw their toys out of the pram at the slightest provocation.
- M.O'Brien, london.uk
The cost to this country of funding the Prime Minister's ego is beyond belief, as is his ego. One wonders when all this will end, it has nearly bankrupted us as it is.
- Lionel Webber, burnham on crouch essex UK
This summit, unlikely to achieve anything as regards the credit-crunch solution being looked for, is but a vastly expensive jamboree to allow windbag Brown to spout more generalizations about 'global' causes and 'global' solutions being required, when everyone knows that a select few caused the problem...
- Jon Kent, Hertford. UK
Whatever the serious aspects of policing this protest, I hope the media will question in detail any "police injuries" reported - no bee stings, back-ache getting into car, and so on, this time round.
- Jay, London
dcJust why are we holding this summit in the capital.It will cost thousands if not millions in disruption.The whole thing could have been held at a country hotel or spar.It would have been easy to police and brough very little disruption.
- Dave Smith, Croydon
The leaders of the G20 should be put on a cruise ship and have their jolly in the middle of the Atlantic. Or preferably, the bottom of it.
- Nobby Clark, Perth, Scotland
But of course they will decide the decent person, who lives within their budget, has to pay more in taxes, direct or indirect.
- Dave, braintree uk
3.000 police for G20 security? Snipers on roofs; armed police in the crowds yet to emerge; yet you can’t find one constable to protect the ordinary people from street muggers.
Sounds a bit like the miners strike all over again; with the police on extravagant overtime payments etc.
The sand sounds good though; all we need then is some salty sea water then we can all have a summer sea-side holiday.
I hope the protesters don’t bring the sand in plastic shopping bags; they are banned now; plus the un-banned ones that cost 5 pence each.
Any arrested will of course have their DNA taken; and filed on Government data basis for future urban terrorist security reasons.
- Mickyinlondon, london
Why organise this is London?? Vanity for NU Labour? I wonder who is going to foot the bill for all the security and for clearing up the mess afterwards? Well, certainly NOT the bunch of layabouts on Welfare, amusing themselves playing with sand whilst the rest of us are slaving away at our desks. Well done, Gordon, for organising another drain on our taxes.
- Haskey, London SE1
Yeah that Uncle Bulgaria is a real menace, up there with Bin Laden!
- Paul, London
Why is is necessary to hold a G20 summit in the centre of London or indeed any major city.
The organisational and security costs are completely ridiculous when the meeting could easily be held on Ascension Island or even the Falkland Islands
Seems to me the world leaders only feel wanted if they have to have huge security presence to protect them from their own peoples
- Paul, London
Excel is a stupid location for such a high secutity event. It should take place outside of a built up area, perhaps in a remote country hotel setting such as Cliveden which is not far from Heathrow and easier to secure.
- Hank Link, London UK
This summit is a complete waste of money It will achieve nothing and cost a fortune What are all those leaders thinking about They should stay home and have a teleconference
- Sheila, london uk
Just add a bit of water and cement - Make them a permanent feature!
- Frank, Home Counties, England.
One of the key organisers is believed to be a senior lecturer at the University of East London.
What is the implication here? That university lecturers are inherently responsible and law abiding? What a very amusing notion!
- Sarah Bradshaw, Enfield, Middx
Lets all chip in for an equal quantity of cement and the required amount of water and entomb these martyrs on public display. Then at least they would serve a purpose going forward for the benefit of snap happy tourists.
- Darren, London
Er, HELLO? The economy has gone down the pan: this isn't 2008 you know . . . ! When the kiddies playing in the sand-pits grow up they will want to know why they are paying for everyone's pensions and healthcare - 'Oh sorry, Poppet: I was too busy trying to bring the City to a halt to worry about that one!'
By that time, Climate Change may well look a bit like 50s predictions that we'd all be invaded by aliens by 2010. The UK is responsible for less than 2% of the world's emissions: with a stuffed economy it is likely to shrink considerably more as everyone tightens their belts and the era of thoughtless consumption comes to an end.
- Roz, Chamonix, France
I will do my bit to help, by collecting sand this weekend. To hell with the G20 "summit".
- Neil M., london uk,
