Anarchists intend to stalk politicians and blockade crucial transport hubs in an escalation of the battle with the Government.
In the aftermath of last Saturday’s mass demonstration several groups have intimated that their tactics in the long-running hostilities with the State will evolve to remain one step ahead of the police.
There was also confirmation that attempts would be made to disrupt the royal wedding on April 29.
The rag-tag band of organisations groups fighting against, for example, public sector cuts, rises in tuition fees, tax policies and even capitalism itself, have been developing links over the past months culminating in Saturday’s violence-tainted march which resulted in over 200 arrests.
Police struggled to keep up with a “black bloc” of protesters who donned black clothing and face coverings before “swarming” through central London attacking various businesses.
Advertisement
At a meeting of the Anarchist Federation on Thursday, which The Times secretly attended, activists warned that “spectaculars like Saturday” were drawing more people into radical action. One student from the London School of Economics told the meeting at a Whitechapel bookshop that more of his peers were becoming “radicalised” by “police aggression” and the mass arrest of the UK Uncut protesters in Fortnum and Mason.
Another of the 25-plus anarchists in attendance, addressed only as Comrade, said it was time to escalate their war against the State. “We need to start using psychological warfare against MPs, like the animal rights activists did. Follow them around, knock on their door, tell their neighbours that these are the ones destroying the world.” There was approval when another speaker proposed disrupting transport. “Let’s blockade train stations and other transport hubs. Make it more difficult for people to travel around the country carrying out the cuts. UK Uncut will support us.”
Separately, a former university professor behind several protest movements said that the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton is a target and urged activists to “retake Parliament Square”.
Chris Knight said: “Saturday was phase one, the royal wedding is phase two and May Day is phase three. The royal wedding has always been a main target. We cannot have regime change without getting rid of the monarchy.”
He said there would be an attempt to erect a guillotine on Parliament Square and conduct mock executions, adding: “Prince Andrew is top of the list.”
Advertisement
There will also be an attempt today to occupy Trafalgar Square for 24 hours.
A police source said: “The face of protests are changing dramatically. People don’t want to wave placards peacefully outside Parliament Square any more and that’s why we’re seeing this kind of violence. They start organising on things like Twitter, we get on Twitter, and they morph into something else.”
The increasing cross-over between avowedly peaceful organisations, such as UK Uncut, and more extremist anarchist groups such as Network X and Rise Up East, which have formed in recent months, is presenting more problems for police forces who lack intelligence on many groups.
Ian Bone, a veteran anarchist, said the black bloc did not “exist outside the demonstration”. “There is no spokesperson, no organisational structure, no one pulling the strings behind the scenes. It is just a tactic.”
On Saturday about 500 balaclava-clad youths caused most of the violence. A review of police powers to prevent protesters covering their faces with scarves is intended while the Met has said it will use Section 60 powers to stop and search individuals.
Advertisement
Members of the black bloc said that direct action was the only way to get attention. One member, from Brighton, wrote that while the black bloc might have resembled a “riot on the surface”, it was a “collective creative of people striving to redefine the status quo through shared emotional experience” and it “ bordered on pure theatre”.