Action groups plan London Summit protest
Rob Virtue
The Wharf
Mar 9, 2009
Demonstrations surrounding the upcoming G20 summit are being planned as peaceful events by the groups taking part.
However, some organisers concede a minority of individuals attending may not be coming with benign intentions.
Protesters have organised a march across London called Put People First on the weekend before the April 2 summit, which is due to take place at the Excel centre.
A leading police officer has already hinted at the high chance of violence during that event and later less high-profile events.
One anarchist wrote on a blog: "The G20 summit being in London gives us the opportunity to mobilise far larger than usual numbers on to the streets. Seize the time."
However, the 80 groups registered to be represented in the London rally, which will go from Victoria Embankment to Hyde Park, insist they intend to be non-violent.
Jonathan Spencer, a spokesman for Tearfund, a charity which campaigns against poverty, said: "The Put People First March will be done with the full co-operation of the police. It will be peaceful.
"However, a minority of the those attending may be doing their own things individually and we cannot speak for them."
The spokesman added there was no concrete plans for heading to the Excel centre during the summit, but refused to rule it out.
He said: "If we are able to get close to where the meeting is due to take place we will be there to do the lobbying."
One group, which has threatened to "bang on the doors" of the Excel on the day of the summit, is the G20meltdown group. However, no-one from the organisation was available to speak to The Wharf.
Other groups attending the demonstration said they hoped it would give them a chance to highlight the need for economic change.
Christine Allen of the international development charity Progressio said: "World leaders meeting at the G20 must prioritise both the needs of the world's poor and climate change in their discussions in April - and far beyond - if we are to address the challenges we share between rich nations and poor."
While, Dr Claire Melamed of anti-poverty agency ActionAid said: "The crisis is more than a banking failure - it is a crisis of the whole system, but also a huge chance to put the economic system on a new and fairer path.
"With rising inequality and poverty made more desperate by the impact of the crisis, world leaders have to step up - and the world is watching."
