To worry that things will kick off in London this week?

[sunnydaytoday0]

By that I mean civil unrest? I certainly hope not but is it a worry given the simmering tension around things like peaceful protesters being warned they'd be arrested, people being reminded they're living in an incredibly unequal society during a cost of living crisis, the anger surrounding the police shooting of an unarmed man recently etc.

I image police officers are being drafted in from all over the country in near record numbers, but is anyone else worried a few heavy handed arrests over the next few days could actually tip the balance into serious disorder?

Standing outside parliament silently and peacefully holding a piece of paper saying 'not my king' is none of those things, and is certainly not illegal. Yet he was threatened with arrest. This isn't North Korea.

At least no innocent person is likely to be shot what with the armed police taking umbrage and skiving

@FireSideCat
Dont have to look as far as America, France too

@sunnydaytoday0 because this is simply not the time to be doing that! The whole city is filled with many royalists and people who have the upmost respect for the Queen and for her family for the way the have handled their grief and doing something like this is just inciting trouble which the already stretched police don't need! For instance many of my relatives are Irish, its like me turning up at the funeral of a member of sinn fein and just standing there holding a sign saying " murderers"! It would infuriate the mourners and go downhill for me very quickly and quite rightly so!

No.

But you've ignored the other incident I mentioned, the police officer is apparently so incredibly busy but has the time to threaten this person with arrest?..

Standing outside parliament silently and peacefully holding a piece of paper saying 'not my king' is none of those things, and is certainly not illegal. Yet he was threatened with arrest. This isn't North Korea.

Believe it or not, they receive significant funding.............

So why do we pay them £££ aa year?

That was my point, maybe not made very well, they don't need funding, they can afford anything and everything they want.

Silly quote of the day. Congratulations! There's so much competition ATM, too.

Do any of you guys live in London or have visited in the last week? The atmosphere is nothing like you are suggesting 🧐
i work in central london and get on tube every day. I’m on tube - just before it goes into tunnel - right now. I’ve been up to green park twice. I’ll go up again on Sunday. The atmosphere is fantastic.
I was on the A40 the other night, it was good humoured and respectful of the queen. There were idiots on the road trying to film as she went by but I would bet they were youtubers not anarchists

And one arrest ( unnecessary yes but the person was standing by gates of Westminster which everyone knows not to stand there, stand on the grass over the road instead) is pretty fantastic policing in my world when there are literally millions of people wandering about.

@sashagabadon I bet they are not even in the UK

why do you assume this poster lives in Islington, I’m curious?

yes I am quite sure they aren't as if they were they would know how out of touch they are and what absolute nonsense they are spouting.
Main complaints seem to be Charles getting cross at a pen, "arresting" a women standing exactly where everyone knows not to stand as it's by the gates outside palaces of Westminster and people on the road on the a40 is a sign of some riot brewing - which I can categorically say isn't as I was on that road and my sister was standing further up the road and my colleague further up still in Paddington area and we all thought it was fantastic.

I haven't been to Edinburgh so can't comment on there but it all seemed respectful and lovely up there too.

It's certainly been a bad week for republicans 😁

I imagine the Islington dig as it is a famous part of London for producing many Labour Leaders and is known for left wing liberals basically living in 2 million pound houses and sending their kids to posh london private schools while preaching to the rest of us.
It was what Truss referred to when she said Labour can't seem to get a leader that lives outside of North London.
Blair, Miliband, Corbyn, Starmer - all live/ lived there. Brown didn't as far as I am aware.
The expression "Champagne Socialists" basically comes from these wealthy labour voters that live in Islington and similar parts of N London.
(and yes I know there are poor bits too and plenty of conservative voters live there and Boris Johnson did - it's also packed full of journalists)

No a few morons maybe but nothing else

"At least no innocent person is likely to be shot"
If you are talking about Chris Kaba he was not innocent he had a history of extreme violence
Would you be happy if your daughter came home with him then
Or if he moved in next to you
I certainly would not

OP - "This isn't North Korea"

We all know this country is nothing like North Korea. If that protester had been in North Korea he would either have been executed or spending the rest of his life in prison doing hard labour.

Yes and the police were then briefed that peaceful protests such as people hold bits of paper, would be allowed.
So that’s ok. Because we aren’t Korea.

North

@Mamamia7962 We all know this country is nothing like North Korea. If that protester had been in North Korea he would either have been executed or spending the rest of his life in prison doing hard labour.

But do you think it's acceptable for the police to threaten to arrest someone for simply saying they would hold up a piece of paper (not blocking any entrances) that say the words 'not my king'? There hasn't been a response from a few posters when I highlight this incident for some reason..

But worrying that the police need to effectively remind their own officers of something so obvious. I wonder what wouldn't happened if the man in question wasn't legally trained and hadn't stood his ground.

It’s absolutely ridiculous that a woman was arrested for holding up a bit of paper with “ Not my king” on it.
Ditto that the man who allegedly called Andrew a dirty old man - Arrested AND
Beaten up?
Those who hit him ought to have been arrested.
These are very minor protests, and it looks like “ An example “ has been made of them.

Regarding protests, It’s unlikely-
I hope riots won’t take place, as it seems to be all about Burning and looting stuff rather than making a protest that affects positive change.

@sashagabadon
Yep, and not just Labour leaders, pretty much every Guardian journo lives there too

Oakleaffy - The protestor wasn't beaten up. The crowd objected to him heckling Andrew not because they were defending Andrew but out of respect for everyone else there. He was pulled back by one of the spectators and a woman said something to him and then a young man pushed him and he fell over. A police officer helped him up and he was quickly escorted away before the situation could escalate.