London – Page 34 – Earth First!

Wembley Summer Camp Open: Squat The Land, Smash School Privatisation

Teachers, residents and campaigners in Wembley, Brent, North West London, have re-squatted the Wembley Sports Ground and are calling out for people to join them, squat the land and join the largest protest against

Brent local teachers, residents and campaigners have made a call out for people to help squat the land at Wembley Park Sports Ground on Bridge Road, next to Wembley Park underground station, and join the largest and most prominent campaign against the accelerating privatisation of the UK education system, the brain child of ex-prime minister Tony Blair.

People are asked to join the Tent City Occupation or just visit, help build networks, share information and knowledge on non-violent-direct-action, and when the construction workers arrive, which could be as early as this week, help in and execute non-violent-direct-action to halt the project.

On 03 June 2008 Brent Town Council approved the child charity Ark proposal to begin the construction of the privatised Wembley Academy School.

The meeting held by council heads at Brent Town Hall, descended into farce, as the local community, angry that they were ignored during all public consultations with the council and Ark, were threatened with removal from the planning meeting and the Academy planning application decision to be made in secret, which would have been an illegal move on the part of the council.

That planning meeting approved the temporary housing of 200 school pupils in huts while the Ark Academy is built around them over the next two years, putting children in danger on a construction site, cranes overhanging the portacabins and temporary accommodation, just so the money flow from UK taxpayer to the privatised school investor, and the profit, can start by September 2008.

One reason the Wembley Academy opening date was moved forward from September 2009 to 2008 was because local opposition against the Academy and the privatisation of UK education has been so massive in Brent, Ark thought that advancing the school start date would crush the resistance.

Connections are being made with the Battersea Crane Disaster Group, the Construction Safety Campaign and the Pimlico school teachers who are also fighting the privatisation of their school by venture capitalist, and Tory party funder, John Nash and his company Sovereign Capital.

Pimlico school pupils are already being put at risk, as 1050 children are being educated while the school is demolished around them. Cranes are already overhanging their class rooms and construction debris and dust believed to contain asbestos is sweeping across the playground into classrooms.

But this situation, authorised by local and national government, will see 200 children being educated in the middle of a construction site. With the current safety record of UK construction sites, it draws serious concern for the wellbeing of the students.

But another concern is private investment taking over the UK education system, instilling their private, corporate, and religious individual beliefs in the education system.

The Vardy Foundation, set up by Christian fundamentalist Reg Vardy, already has its hands on several UK Academies and has since eradicated evolution from the schools, teaching only creationism.

The Wembley Ark Academy will be run by french/swiss and multimillionaire Arki Busson – long-term friend of Tony Blair – who is known to hold what can only be described as strict Catholic beliefs.

Ark is set to run 12 UK Academy schools, six of which will be opened by September 2008.

As construction work begins and the resistance turns to non-violent-direct-action to halt the project, construction could begin as early as this work, private security and police are expected to be employed to force eviction on the protestors.

The teachers, residents and campaigners of Brent have asked for all to come, squat the land, save the Wembley Sports Ground and surrounding green space for the local community and wildlife, and halt the further gentrification of Wembley.

Bring your mum, your brother, your dog – squat this land, join the protest, make a stand and to say no to the privatisation of UK education. Say no to education for profit. Join the Wembley Park Tent City Occupation.

Make a stand. Say no to privatised education. Get on the Metropolitan Underground line to Wembley Park, bring a tent, bring a friend, and make a stand.

All photos courtesy of freelance journalist Jason N. Parkinson
All Stills (c) Jason N. Parkinson 2008 All Rights Reserved

Tent City Occupation (see here for contact details)

http://www.tentcityoccupation.co.uk/

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Previous coverage

Anti-Academy Teachers Take To The Trees

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/09/380945.html

Wembley Teachers Say No To Privatised Schooling

http://jasonnparkinson.blogspot.com/2008/06/wembley-teachers-say-no-to-privatised.html

200 School Pupils In Huts On A Construction Site

http://jasonnparkinson.blogspot.com/2008/06/200-school-pupils-in-huts-on.html

Save Our Schools 22-minute film available on Reel News issue 13

http://www.reelnews.co.uk/

Climate Camp Bike Ride

People will be riding to the climate camp, starting from Glasgow, descending southerly picking up thousands en route.

The final leg, London to Kingsnorth is on sunday 3 August meeting under Waterloo bridge (southside) at 9am
For more info on the route and how to get involved e-mail climatecampbikeride@lists.riseup.net
Up the the velorution.

People will be riding to the climate camp, starting from Glasgow, descending southerly picking up thousands en route.

London, Brighton & Manchester Critical Masses commemorate dead cyclists

June’s Critical mass in London saw a slightly different route. As always we met at Southbank and managed to leave at 7.15pm.

Following the killing of Marie Vesco on the A23 her friends, rampART and Food Not Bombs asked people to ride to Brixton, where she served free food every Sunday afternoon with Brixton Food Not Bombs.

Approximately 600 cyclists left Waterloo going South via Lambeth North, then Elephant& Castle, going round a few times stopping the traffic. Via the Oval we went to Brixton, where we stopped at Windrush Square. By now there were maybe 300-400 cyclists left (there was a bit of North-London snobbery). Different people spoke about Marie and how they missed her. How she died and why she worked with Brixton FoodNotBombs and how giving out free food was so important to her. There was a minute’s silence for her.

Then we cycled North again, police stopped us halfway up towards Stockwell. They had tried to dictate the tempo previously, but rogue cyclists broke through, stopped the traffic ahead of the police line and in that way forced the police to let the Mass go (Health and Safety and all…).

They managed to block Stockwell Road and we didn’t quite get the momentum of breaking through. To the coppers’ surprise the tip of the Mass turned around, cycling back on themselves and turning off the main road further down (Sidney Road I think). We made our way to the Oval, cycling past the Cricket knobs, some of which were using bad language, when we came in sight. Others were supportive.

Vauxhall Bridge ended up being a bit of a splitter were we lost a few people. Going across the bridge, past Parliament we hit the square, encircling it a couple of times, until something happened with the sound system (as always) not quite sure what. music stopped. Raising bikes, blocking road, we then went to see the queen. The whole ride took about two hours and a bit. Nice atmosphere, good mix of people and bikes and so good to have some music on the way (three sound systems).

What happened with the sound system on the North side of Parliament Square was that the police stopped it playing and riders strongly objected to this ban which caused a long traffic holdup.

The cycle police keep on targeting Critical Mass sound systems in the SOCPA zone around Parliament while doing nothing to stop sound systems in cars, buses and lorries. Also the SOCPA legislation is currently under review and other police are tending not to enforce it.

video of ride.

Manchester & London Critical Masses this Friday + South London

OH MY!
It’s CRITICAL MASS this Friday….how ace is that?

Friday 27th June 6pm
Central Library Manchester

Afterwards we’ll have a BBQ and hang out a park, so bring BBQ’s, food, music, drinks etc. (vegan BBQs preferred as then it can be accessible to everyone!)

OH MY!
It’s CRITICAL MASS this Friday….how ace is that?

Friday 27th June 6pm
Central Library Manchester

Afterwards we’ll have a BBQ and hang out a park, so bring BBQ’s, food, music, drinks etc. (vegan BBQs preferred as then it can be accessible to everyone!)

A totally ace bike ride around our city to meet other cyclists and ride on our roads…For a few hours once a month we can show how beautiful our city can be when bicycles, instead of cars, dominate the roads.

it’s such a nice and sociable and fun way to spend a Friday evening on a bicycle..wow. so ace. and now we’re getting bigger and bigger..someone said they counted at least 150 people on the one last month, how ace is that?!!. come and be part of our lovely friendly cruise around..to collectively enjoy the beautiful experience that is riding a bike.

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People’s comments about Manchester Critical Mass

“…it’s brilliant. Usually I’m charging around on my bike, getting where i need to go as fast as i can. Critical mass is different. It’s about enjoying riding. It’s the most relaxed ride around the city I’ve ever had. Where all my worries and fears float away. And I’ve met some lovely people too”

“I was scared it would be some angry bike militants but everyone is so friendly and the ride is fun no aggro at all. See you next month!”

“it’s quite something to have that many peeps riding round at once.”

“Critical Mass sometimes has a reputation for being an angry rabble of cyclists that want to string up any car drivers they see. This is not true of Manchester Critical Mass, it is a fluffy mass of people that like to have fun on bikes, there are often have children with us and a bicycle sound system to add to the party fun atmosphere. As well as being fun and
a social event it is also to show how great a car free city will be. This is achieved every month by showing motorists an alternative, yet critical mass Manchester doesn’t aim to annoy drivers we want them to join us..”

“I spend all month, every month, riding around behind exhaust pipes and swerving out of the way from angry, disrespectful drivers, I live in a world that is dying from climate change..only the other day it was announced the white rhino is extinct, it tears me up inside. Riding a bike isn’t going to change all of that instantly but I believe that not only does it mean less cars on the roads but riding a bike also gives a feeling of connection with one’s surroundings and other people and through this we can start to act in other ways that can create social change”

“Critical Mass isn’t a place to vent the anger that comes from having to deal with cars (I don’t think), because it’s nice to, instead, spend that time enjoying riding my bike. Sometimes it can feel so alienating riding a bike surrounded by so many motorists. Critical Mass shows that we are not alone and that we are growing. It’s the most fantastic piece of direct action I’ve ever done- I want there to be less cars on the roads and by
being one less car there is!!!”

(taken from emails we’ve received)

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Critical Mass in London for Marie this Friday

Assemble under Waterloo Bridge 6pm on Friday

The Critical Mass in London will attempt to go all the way to Brixton to celebrate the life of Marie, who was killed by 2 cars on her way to the demonstration against the arms trade in Brighon, see:

https://indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/london/2008/06/400604.html

Assemble under Waterloo Bridge 6pm on Friday

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South London critical mass?!

The first ever south London Critical Mass is happening on Friday 4th of July, and every first Friday of the month there after.

It will take place @ 6.30, starting from Peckham library.

Help campaign for safer roads for cyclists. All other human powered transport welcome too!
Massive rolling sound system provided by rawkus rickshaws.

arrest charges dropped – round-up: Fossil Fools Day & M1 Conspiracy

As with the majority of protest arrests (if you do a NO COMMENT interview), though there’s been a load of people arrested recently, they’ve released without charge, on bail to return to a police station.

This gives the CPS time to decide what to do, but also hinders protest because the police can dictate punative bail restrictions.

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M1 Conspiracy Case Thrown Out

1st May 2008

This gives the CPS time to decide what to do, but also hinders protest because the police can dictate punative bail restrictions.

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M1 Conspiracy Case Thrown Out

1st May 2008
Seven climate camp activists against the widening of the M1(1*) had the case against them dismissed from Sheffield Crown Court yesterday. Charged with conspiracy to cause a public nuisance Judge Robinson said that: “there was not a jot of evidence” for a jury to infer an endangerment of any member of the public.

Seven climate camp activists against the widening of the M1(1*) had the case against them dismissed from Sheffield Crown Court today. Charged with conspiracy to cause a public nuisance Judge Robinson said that: “there was not a jot of evidence” for a jury to infer an endangerment of any member of the public.

Arrested over a year ago the protesters had their houses raided with property such as computers and phones taken and held for the duration of the investigation.

This ruling in the midst of a crack down (2*) on green protest sets a precedent for policing of environmental demonstrations. The Judge resoundingly rejected the prosecution’s argument that the hanging of banners over the motorway would constitute a public nuisance. He went on to say: “that all of the available material (presented to
the court) is consistent only with peaceful protest.”

Campaign spokesperson Dr Julie White, a GP from Sheffield, said: “this is victory for the right to protest in the face of government policy of expanding roads, runways and coal-fired power stations in a time of climate crisis.”

The activists say that the experience has not deterred them from taking action against the root causes of climate change and will be attending the Camp for Climate Action(3*) at Kingsnorth coal-fired power station in Kent this August.

Contact Julie White on 0779851073.

NOTES FOR EDITORS
1*) The Department of Transport have decided against widening the M1 any further: http://www.nowideningm1.org.uk/

2*) this month the Sunday Herald reported that protestors in Scotland had been harassed by police after peaceful demonstrations: http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var.2210574.0.protesters_police_treated_us_like_terrorists.php

3*)The Camp for Climate Action went to Heathrow last summer over the building of a third runway this year it will pitch up at Kingsnorth over the potential building of the UK’s first new coal-fired power station for 30 years:
http://www.climatecamp.org.uk/

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Bacton gas terminal 19

On 1st April, EF!ers blockaded the gas terminal at Bacton to celebrate Fossil Fools Day. The police tried to arrest everyone, and got 19 people. For a full report, see http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/20420

Due to return to a rural Norfolk police station, people were keen to phone up the police station to find out what was happening. The police had not taken any decision, and a few days before decided to drop charges against all but 3 people locked-on who got off with cautions.

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Police drop charges against Wunderman protestors

The three activists arrested following the invasion of Wunderman’s offices have had all charges against them dropped.

The environmentalists, from direct action group London Rising Tide, had been charged with “burglary of pens, paper and phone calls”.

They were held after staging a four-hour sit-in over two of parent agency Y&R’s key clients – Land Rover and BAE Systems.

The action was part of a worldwide campaign against climate change, dubbed Fossil Fools Day. In the UK, the group also staged demonstrations outside Porsche dealerships, the head office of E-on, and a coal mine in Wales.

The three activists managed to get into the Y&R building –Greater London House on Hampstead Road, NW1 – by posing as executives from a newly-privatised wing of the MoD called HarrionProjects, a spoof company whose centrepiece is the Harrion, a civilian version of the Harrier Jump-Jet.

Once inside, they barricaded themselves into the conference room, opposite Wunderman EMEA chief executive Marcus Starke’s office.

Demo against E.ON, 16th July, London

Join the Greenwash Guerrillas to show that E.ON’S greenwash won’t wash!
Wednesday, 16th July, 8.15 AM, London

With two weeks to go before the Camp for Climate Action at Kingsnorth, E.ON are sponsoring a climate summit designed to help industry leaders ‘keep stakeholders engaged’. Just like their plans for ‘clean coal’ at Kingsnorth, this is greenwash of the highest toxicity: a laughable-if-it-weren’t-so-tragic attempt to distract us from the fact that E.ON are planning to build the first coal-fired power station in the UK for over thirty years. And that, in a time of unprecedented climate crisis, is an unacceptable insanity.

This hot-air-fest cannot pass without a visit from… the Greenwash Guerrillas!

Don a white painter’s suit and come on down to the Business Design Centre in Islington to join a crack team of greenwash detectors. We will be cordoning off the area and warning summit delegates about the high levels of toxic greenwash leaking from the building. (We suspect its source to be E.ON Managing Director Bob Taylor, who’s got a top spot on the panel.) To get a sense of what the demo will be like, check out the Greenwash Guerrillas in action here: www.risingtide.org.uk/node/250

This should be a fun, subversive demo, with the Camp for Climate Action, Rising Tide, People and Planet, Earth First! and WDM all helping to spread the word. Join us and help show E.ON that our actions won’t be confined to Kingsnorth this August. Climate Campers will go wherever we need to and do whatever it takes to shut down Kingsnorth – permanently.

Where: Business Design Centre, 52 Upper St, London N1 0QH

When: Wednesday, 16th July, meet 8.15AM in front of the Business Design Centre

Bring if you can: a white painter’s/boiler suit and any home-made greenwash detecting devices you can think up (eg. part of an old hoover, a remote control, a hair dryer painted green – get creative!) If you can’t bring these things, not to worry, extras will be on hand.

More info: info@climatecamp.org.uk / 07961 917 535
(Get in touch if you’re coming from out of town and need accommodation the night before)

Help spread the word – flyers (4 fit per piece of A4 – great on green paper) and poster available at

>>GGs Leaflet – Front
>>GGs Leaflet – Back
>>GGs Poster

www.climatecamp.org.uk
www.greenwashguerrillas.org.uk
www.risingtide.org.uk
www.stopkingsnorth.org.uk
www.peopleandplanet.org.uk
www.earthfirst.org.uk

Squat news – London, Cambridge

12.06.2008

Bowl Court Social Centre Days Are Numbered – London

12.06.2008

Bowl Court Social Centre Days Are Numbered – London

The courting hearing today ruled in favor of the property developers claiming ownership of the derelict warehouse in Bowl Court that has been used as a radical social centre since opening 23rd March. The David vs Goliath case was clearly motivated by Hammersons desire to prevent the new social centre becoming a hub for the local campaigns against their proposed development for the area, the biggest development in London since Docklands in the eighties.

The victorian social centre is located in the Shoreditch Street Conservation area and previous attempts to obtain planning consent for demolition have been refused. The neighboring warehouse was knocked down without planning permission by Gamma City Developments which was purchased by Hammerson, along with vast tracts of lands earmarked to become a forest of glass skyscrapers over the next ten years. Number 6 Bowl Court was left empty for years with a gaping hole cut in the roof and deep excavations dug around it’s external walls, apparently with the aim of speeding up it’s decay to justify future applications for demolition.

Although at least two other squatters occupy nearby properties which Hammerson claim to own, the attempts to evict Bowl Court came about only as it became apparent that the social centre was becoming involved in the local campaigns against the redevelopment plans for the area. The company had been informed of the occupation on the 24th March but only made moves to repossess the property three weeks ago.

In court, the defendants questioned the evidence presented by the claimants regarding ownership. Their land registry title was contradicted by titles known to be held by other companies. There was also issue over whether the notice of the proceedings had been correctly served as residential property requires five days clear notice but only three had been given. With no professional representation, the defendants were unable to put together a robust defense and also found themselves threatened with over £21,000 in costs. However, the judge also considered the costs to be outrageously inflated an choose to award just £2,500 in costs.

The future of the social centre is now obviously in doubt but in the meantime events continue as normal. See http://www.bowlcourt.co.nr for details.

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Mill Road Social Centre May Stay For Flippin’ Ages – Cambridge

A possession order was granted to Tesco today in court, yet representatives of the Mill Road Social Centre had apparent confirmation of indefinite leave to remain from Tesco’s solicitors.

About 20 social centre groupies went to court today dressed in all our wet finery and had a friendly bit of banter with the Tesco legal representative and the judge. The judge decided that, although we pointed out in our defense that their claim wasn’t accurate and so should be thrown out, she was happy to quickly amend it in court. This meant that we no longer had a defense as that was the only way our legal assistance had found for rejecting the claim. So, the judge awarded Tesco the possession order, as we thought they might.

We raised the issue of Tesco stating that they didn’t want to apply the possession order immediately, they just wanted hold of it. The solicitor again confirmed that this was the case.

SO, net result, as far as we know, we can remain in there doing fun things until Tesco want to get the builders in, hopefully sometime never. Obviously it’d be useful to keep open some kind of dialogue with Tesco about when they’re going to move in and we’ll look into that, however the early hope is that we actually have the space for a number of weeks and can get cracking in earnest to make it even more lovely and useful.

The solicitor said in court that “Tesco has no use today for the premises.” to which the judge replied “So they are in no position to commence redevelopment at this moment?”, and the solicitor answered “No.”. So if that’s right, and if they do want to wait on the planning process before trying to evict us, it could be a long long time. Hurrah! 🙂 It also means they were fibbing when they said they could open a store “tomorrow” in the evening news. Cheeky blighters.

millroadsocialcentre@lists.riseup.net
http://millroadsocialcentre.wordpress.com

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social centre attacked (again)

15.06.2008
At about half 1 this morning the mill rd social centre was attacked for the second time in a week. Thugs armed with an iron bar smashed windows and damaged vehicles in attempt to intimidate the occupants, then drove off. No Pasaran.
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New autonomous and creative social space in South London

The Chapel project is an autonomous and creative social space situated in the heart of Nunhead. The space is used for all kinds of creative and socially minded workshops and events. Our main aim is to provide affordable cultural activities to people, promoting creative interaction and therefore social change.

Come and get involved. Whatever ideas, materials or positive energies you can share would be great whether its running a workshop, showing your art work, or just spreading the word. We hope to see you soon.

http://www.chapelproject.com

Women and Trans DIY-SQUATTING Weekend in London, 28th-29th June

This is a callout to all women and trans-folk that would like to be involved in a weekend of workshops around diy-squatting

We plan to take advantage of all the usual challenges that semi-derelict buildings pose as a platform for sharing our knowledge, skills, and experience in all the tasks related to opening and maintaining a healthy and happy squat!

This is a callout to all women and trans-folk that would like to be involved in a weekend of workshops around diy-squatting

These are all the areas that we’ve thought of so far, but more ideas are always welcome:

* Electricity
* Plumbing
* Gas
* Security- doors/locks etc
* Barricading
* Legal
* Dealing w/ cops/owners- talk about experience/share tactics
* Women/Trans squatting- open discussion on experience of squatting from a women/trans-perspective.
* Sustainable energy

All levels of experience in any of the above areas are welcome, and even if you have no experience in any of the practical, diy-related areas, we hope to have a platform to share
experiences, stories and advice related to all aspects of squat-living from a trans/woman’s perspective.

Please get in touch if you’d like to help out at all in organising this weekend – We’ll need help finding a suitable space and preparing it for the weekend, publicising the gathering, and then running workshops on the weekend itself, as well as collecting and preparing food.
We also hope to provide childcare (on a rota-basis), so please let us know if you can help with that.

This gathering will be held on the weekend of the 28th – 29th June.

You can e-mail us at diy_squatting@riseup.net

Please spread the word!

**Let us know if you would like to be sent leaflets**

Cancellation of London Dongria Kondh tribe picket following targets disinvestment from Vendanta

The Survival demonstration outside Coutts Bank previously advertised on this website planned for the 10th June has been cancelled. In reaction to the planned picket Coutts has just informed Survival that they no longer hold shares in Vedanta, the British-based company whose planned bauxite mine will devastate the lands of India’s Dongria Kondh tribe.

Survival is continuing to lobby other Vedanta shareholders, as well as the company itself.

For more information, please go to http://www.survival-international.org/tribes/dongria

Report follows of picket last week.

Survival protest – ‘Finsbury profits from tribe’s destruction’
28 May 2008

Survival International this morning held a demonstration outside the London PR company FINSBURY, a subsidiary of global advertising company WPP. The protest highlighted Finsbury’s involvement with British mining giant Vedanta, which is set to destroy one of India’s most isolated tribes – the Dongria Kondh.

Carrying placards that said ‘Finsbury profits from tribe’s destruction’, demonstrators handed leaflets to Finsbury employees as they arrived for work, urging them to persuade Finsbury to resign their account with Vedanta.

Vedanta’s subsidiary, Sterlite, plans to mine aluminium ore from the Niyamgiri mountains in Orissa, India, where all of the 8,000 Dongria Kondh live.

The Dongria Kondh vehemently oppose the mine. Jitu Jakesika, a Dongria spokesperson, said, ‘We will become beggars if the company destroys our mountain and our forest so that they can make money. We will give our lives for our mountain.’

The Dongria Kondh have lived on the slopes of Niyamgiri since time immemorial, and are totally dependent on its forests. They view the mountain as sacred, grow crops on the slopes, and gather wild fruit in the dense forests.

Whaling protester scales embassy – court update

4 June 2008 update (main story below):
Conditional discharge of four months and ordered to pay £100 costs after being convicted of trespass.

Wyness told the court staff at the embassy had given him permission to protest outside the building.

4 June 2008 update (main story below):
Conditional discharge of four months and ordered to pay £100 costs after being convicted of trespass.

Wyness told the court staff at the embassy had given him permission to protest outside the building.

He said they had given him the invitation when he had tied himself to banisters inside the building on a previous occasion on 25 January.

The court was also shown footage which had been secretly filmed which showed a member of embassy staff suggesting it would be better to protest outside the building.

—

6 March 2008
A campaigner protesting against whaling by the Japanese has been arrested after chaining himself to the front of the country’s embassy in London.

Martin Wyness, 50, of Hereford, climbed the building at about 0730 GMT and lowered the Japanese flag to half-mast about 40ft (12m) from the ground.

He then unfurled a banner saying “Japan stop your illegal whaling” before chaining himself to the building.

Police said Mr Wyness came down from the building at 1047 GMT.

He was arrested on suspicion of criminal trespass.

His protest was believed to be timed to coincide with a meeting of the International Whaling Commission which began on Thursday.

The three-day summit, which is being held in Heathrow, will discuss the future of whaling in Japan, Norway and Iceland.

In January, Mr Wyness and his 14-year-old daughter Sophie were arrested after tying themselves to a staircase with cable ties inside the embassy, in Piccadilly.

The charges against them were later dropped.

Video of action