The May Day Protests - London UK

Yesterday was my first protest - I'm an environmental scientist and had to go along to the critical mass bike ride to take place through the centre of London, to make my feelings felt about car over-use in the UK. When I arrived at Marylebone at 7:30 am there were about 4 people on bicycles, 20 journalists and around one hundred police!!!! We laughed at the pathetic nature of this police over reaction - and the fact that they were using hire vans since they clearly didn't have enough of their own (sadly, later in the day I was to find out exactly what these vans would be used for).

I was taking part in the bike ride on foot (due to the wide disregard of the needs of people who take bicycles, wheelchairs and similar items on public transport in London, I was unable to get my bike from Rochester in Kent to Marylebone) and had a great time. There were so many cyclists by the time we set off, the pace was slow enough for me to keep up with. The parade was colourful and friendly, even people in cars and vans going about their daily business gave their support. During this protest the police were largely supportive and non-provocative. They travelled along-side us and served to hold up traffic more than if we had been alone!

After the bike ride finished I joined another carnival-type procession. The day had been organised so that a number of different events took place all over London throughout the day. The events were based on the Monopoly board game - appropriate since many of the protestors and organisers feel that capitalism and the existence of large monopolistic multi-national companies put profits before people. The procession was full of friendly, colourful people dancing and playing drums and instruments. I reflected on the difference between these people and those you would normally meet on the streets of London on any other day. Here I could stop and talk with anyone - share a joke, a bottle of water or a cigarette. Wouldn't it be amazing if our cities were like that every day?

After about an hour the procession had stopped around Euston station, I wasn't sure why we had stopped - maybe there was some confusion as to the direction we would take. The drummers were playing and everyone was in good spirits. After about half an hour of dancing I went to see why we weren't moving on. At one end of the street, a row of policemen told me I could not pass, and if I needed to leave the area, I must do so at the other end of the street. There were quite a number of people in a relatively small space and I was beginning to feel claustrophobic and needed to get out. After about twenty minutes I got to the other end of the street. I was horrified to see that we had been completely hemmed in by police who said they were holding us as we as we were a threat to the peace!!!!!

I was held for two hours in a very frightening situation. People were getting very angry and I was scared that I would be crushed. When I told a policeman that I was scared he simply said "It will be you lot that get trampled, not us."

I began to panic. Luckily the protestors around me were really friendly and looked after me, people were passing around water to share. Eventually the police began to let people out I was passed to the front so that I could be released first (thank you so much Euston protestors!). On my release I was photographed, searched extensively and asked for my name, address, photograph, phone number, post code and place of birth. Is this legal?

After yesterdays experience I felt downhearted, and as that the UK has now arrived at a police state. The outrageous propaganda in the run-up to yesterdays events did well to ensure that many peaceful protestors were frightened away (the proportion of women present was small, around 30%, and representation of ethnic minorities much smaller), whilst the heavy handed approach of the police as the day went on served to frustrate and antagonise those who simply wanted to make their point in a colourful, party atmosphere.