Occupy protesters return to Westminster
Protesters descended on central London tonight as the Occupy movement gathered to set up camp outside Parliament.
Protesters descended on central London tonight as the Occupy movement gathered to set up camp outside Parliament.
Protesters who spent the night near Parliament Square today said they planned to remain outside the Supreme Court until Sunday evening. Around 30 protesters from the Occupy London group slept on land outside the Supreme Court building, which overlooks Parliament Square, after the square itself was fenced off. Around 45 demonstrators were still in the area this afternoon, displaying banners and placards.
Canning Green, a grassy area near the court, has also been closed off by police. Protesters said that they were demonstrating against the bedroom tax and the privatisation of the NHS.
We didn't vote for the privatisation of the NHS. We didn't vote for TTIP (Transatlantic trade investment partnership). We didn't vote for fracking. But all these things are happening. We all came together and we decided that there's a democratic deficit. People don't know these things so we have to keep educating them. Unfortunately the narrative is becoming more about the right to protest."
Our role here is very simply to facilitate peaceful protest. There will be a policing presence for as long as the protest takes place. In response to concerns from protesters about tarpaulins and cardboard being removed. The Police Social Responsibility Act prohibits the use of anything for sleeping."
The unlicensed events unfolded on Saturday night at Clapham Common and Tooting Bec Common.
A 37 year old man who was taken to hospital after getting into difficulty in a stretch of water near Maidenhead has died.
Jonty Bravery, who is mentally ill, has been jailed for 15 years after throwing a six year old boy from the Tate modern balcony.