SHOPPING STEWARDS

With the anti-cuts march of March 26th shaping up to be a big one, police preparations to keep a tight grip on law and order are well underway. With the shrieks of protest from the liberal press over ‘crowd management’ techniques that involve horse charging, beating and kettling students ringing in their ears, police will this time be employing an army of soft-cops.

The Met has managed to achieve unprecedented collusion with protest organisers the TUC and Liberty (see SchNEWS 761), supposedly in the interests of ‘public safety’. What this means for protesters is that on the 26th all may not be what it seems. FitWatch have uncovered the extent that TUC stewards are to be the police’s lackeys on the day, including intelligence-sharing and calling the bona-fide cops in if demonstrators try anything other than walking from A to B. FitWatch said, “For this demonstration the TUC has been co-opted into the entire policing operation, bringing about a whole new level of police control.”

And if that is not enough, the police have promised to deal “robustly” with any lawful or unlawful disobedience, employ snatch squads and CCTV, and have a ‘kettling manager’ with a specific remit to deal with the standard unjustified detention (avoid, avoid, avoid!).

A word of warning about travel – don’t expect to be able to get the tube or a bus anywhere near the demo once it’s started. Arrive early and have a plan of what to do if you can’t get to the main march. Meet yer on the streets!