Britain faces summer of rage - police
Middle-class anger at economic crisis could erupt into violence on streets
Paul Lewis
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."
