Posted: 11.53am Saturday 1 November 2008
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This article should be read after: » Time’s right to give bankers a fright
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Halloween protesters ‘bury capitalism’ by Canary Wharf
Protesters at Canary Wharf (Pic: » Guy Smallman)
Earlier in the day 80 people protested in Edinburgh (Pic: Duncan Brown)
by Simon Assaf
Protesters staged a mock funeral of capitalism outside the headquarters of the failed Lehman Brothers bank in Canary Wharf on a bitterly cold Halloween night.
Canary Wharf in east London is a mass of office complexes and towering bank buildings, built over the docks that were once the heart of old east end of London. The area has come to symbolise the get-rich-quick dogma of neoliberalism.
The protest, “dance on the grave of capitalism”, drew some 400 activists, many of whom were in Halloween costumes.
Following the funeral a samba band struck up, and protesters, chanting “anti-captialista”, attempted to storm the Canary Wharf tower. They were stopped by police and Canary Wharf security guards.
Police pushed and punched at the crowd after it appeared that they had lost control. One young protester was seized in the melee and arrested.
Despite a heavy handed response from some police officers, the protest remained lively and colourful.
This is the second flash protest to take place since a massive bailout of banks. In October several hundred students brought the City of London to a halt.
Organisers told Socialist Worker that they are planning more of these flash protests.
The following should be read alongside this article:
» Time’s right to give bankers a fright
© Socialist Worker (unless otherwise stated). You may republish if you include an active link to the original.
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