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Mizter T March 26th 09 01:23 PM

G20 Summit
 

On 26 Mar, 12:40, Ian Jelf wrote:

In message , David
Cantrell writes

On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 01:30:04PM -0700, Mizter T wrote:


Not at all surprised by that - the whole area around the Excel centre
is going to be 'locked down' to the max


Yay! *Let's inconvenience tens of thousands of people!


Why they don't hold these bloody things in more remote places where that
wouldn't happen - and where they'd be more secure to boot - I don't
know. *St Kilda would be a good choice.


At the moment I'm inclined to agree with you. * I have two tour jobs
booked that day (Walking tour Bankside & Blackfriars afternoon and South
Bank in the evening.) * One of the clients is keen for this to go ahead,
the other is wavering and looking to *me* for advice.

Frankly, I don't *know* what to tell them. * I risk losing work or I
risk disruption or even harm.

Still don't know what to do. * :-(


Go ahead with them, that's what I say! There'll be protests at Excel
in the Docklands of course, but any disturbances in central London are
going to be right in the midst of the square mile. A Bankside &
Blackfriars walk is far enough away from it all I'd say - are you
starting at Bankside (and Tower Bridge or Borough?), and staying south
until Blackfriars Bridge? I wouldn't however plan to meet at Monument/
Bank or Mansion House. Things in the City are supposed to start at
midday, but I wouldn't be that surprised to find it being a bit of a
damp squib.

South Bank in the evening is definitely ok.

Which client is wavering? I wouldn't worry about actual harm - you're
not planning to be somewhere that may be in the right in the thick of
"it", whatever "it" may turn out to be, after all.

John Rowland March 26th 09 01:41 PM

G20 Summit
 
Mizter T wrote:

To be fair, the Excel centre is sort of out of the way somewhat, out
in the 'more distant' Docklands.


Any location that requires the closure of 3 stations can not be called "out
of the way". There are numerous large country hotels in Britain which would
have create negligible disruption to travel.



Paul Terry March 26th 09 02:15 PM

G20 Summit
 
In message , Ian Jelf
writes

I have two tour jobs booked that day (Walking tour Bankside &
Blackfriars afternoon and South Bank in the evening.) One of the
clients is keen for this to go ahead, the other is wavering and looking
to *me* for advice.


You're probably OK as long as you keep out of the square mile, but there
are reports in the press that protesters will attempt to bring transport
to a halt by leaving unattended packages on tube trains, which would
prove a big problem if your customers are expecting to arrive and depart
by tube.

Frankly, I don't *know* what to tell them. I risk losing work or I
risk disruption or even harm.


I'm sure the Met would advise if you rang them, but they'll probably say
"better to cancel". It was reported on the lunchtime news today that the
Met have circulated businesses in the city recommending that staff don't
come in if at all possible.
--
Paul Terry

Mizter T March 26th 09 04:43 PM

G20 Summit
 

On 26 Mar, 13:41, "John Rowland"
wrote:

Mizter T wrote:

To be fair, the Excel centre is sort of out of the way somewhat, out
in the 'more distant' Docklands.


Any location that requires the closure of 3 stations can not be called "out
of the way". There are numerous large country hotels in Britain which would
have create negligible disruption to travel.


"*sort of* out of the way *somewhat*" is wot I said, innit - and what
I was getting at was that it's out of the way of central London. It
also won't mean closing major roads - the A13 will remain open, the
Blackwall tunnel will stay open, the Woolwich Ferry will presumably
continue sailing, London City Airport plans to continue normal
operations [1].

The three stations are on a light rail system where the stations are
spaced closely together - these three stations are well within a mile
of each other - though yes I grant you that this now means that the
trains won't stop for something like almost two miles. Plus closing
these stations also lessens the risk of travel disruption to the DLR
network as well (though I'd guess that there are emergency plans are
in place to suspend service on the Beckton branch should that be
required).

I'm not quite sure what my thoughts are on a summit like this, but I
sort of think it is the kind of thing that happens from time to time
in major capital cities. And like I said, I do think the location of
Excel is "sort of out of the way somewhat".

Anyway, if the summit was being held in a large country hotel out in
the sticks then that wouldn't necessarily mean that demonstrations
wouldn't also be held in central London at the same time.

-----
[1] LCY info:
http://www.londoncityairport.com/Lan...ortdisruptions

Mizter T March 26th 09 04:58 PM

G20 Summit
 

On 26 Mar, 14:15, Paul Terry wrote:

In message , Ian Jelf
writes

I have two tour jobs booked that day (Walking tour Bankside &
Blackfriars afternoon and South Bank in the evening.) * One of the
clients is keen for this to go ahead, the other is wavering and looking
to *me* for advice.


You're probably OK as long as you keep out of the square mile, but there
are reports in the press that protesters will attempt to bring transport
to a halt by leaving unattended packages on tube trains, which would
prove a big problem if your customers are expecting to arrive and depart
by tube.


I haven't come across that story - nonetheless I'm pretty sceptical of
any such scaremongering press reportage, I can't help but think it's
just the result of a hack finding some moronic comment written by a
daft idiot on an internet forum somewhere (or worse, being fed such a
scare story by a copper) and working it up into a story.

Of course if I ever witnessed anyone actually doing that I'd not
hesitate in delivering unto them some violence - but as I said, I'm
pretty sceptical of such reports. As ever with such things one should
remember there is not some homogeneous mass of protesters at play
here, there's all sorts of folk - including a few attention seeking
fools who try and whip up stuff like this. The problem with the media
is that they'll hone in on the loudest voices - the "G20 meltdown"
website has been mentioned many times, but it's just a couple of
people who've put it together to stir things up, it's not an
organisation or anything.


Frankly, I don't *know* what to tell them. * I risk losing work or I
risk disruption or even harm.


I'm sure the Met would advise if you rang them, but they'll probably say
"better to cancel". It was reported on the lunchtime news today that the
Met have circulated businesses in the city recommending that staff don't
come in if at all possible.


I paused for a moment to ponder why someone would call the
Metropolitan line control with a question like that (seriously)!

[email protected] March 26th 09 06:43 PM

G20 Summit
 
On Mar 25, 2:58*pm, MIG wrote:
On Mar 25, 9:05*pm, "philip" wrote:





"Mizter T" wrote in message


...


On 25 Mar, 20:01, "John Salmon" wrote:


"Paul Corfield" wrote


wrote:
Does anyone know if there are plans to change public transport next
Wednesday and Thursday when the Summit is in town. At work we
are being warned about probable disruption (I work in the City) from
demonstrations so I was wondering whether I will be even to get
there or not.


The latest TFL travel information bulletin - out today - identifies the
risk but says there are no advance plans available at this point.


But DLR are saying this:


DLR STATION CLOSURES ON THURSDAY 2 APRIL 2009


Due to the G20 Summit at ExCeL London, the Metropolitan Police have
requested that a number of DLR stations are closed on Thursday 2 April.


The stations affected are Royal Victoria, Custom House for ExCeL and
Prince
Regent. Services will operate as normal on all routes, but will not stop
at the affected stations. Passengers are advised to use their nearest
alternative station.


Times and stations affected may be modified at short notice at Police
request. Please check before you travel.


We apologise for any inconvenience.


Not at all surprised by that - the whole area around the Excel centre
is going to be 'locked down' to the max, and the DLR line in question
skirts the northern perimeter of the centre's grounds. There'll surely
be a heavy BTP presence on the DLR network then too.


Thanks for the info everyone. I think that the authorities may be expecting
things tp happen in the square mile as we are being warned not to wear
business attire, stagger our arival/departure times, not to leave the
building when we are here etc. and are advising us, if at all possible, to
avoid main line stations . Sounds like they are expecting some real s**t!


More likely that they are planning to dish some out and don't want too
many witnesses around.

For an idea of how accurate the reporting is likely to be, I'll never
forget May Day 2001, where I went home from chatting with some
pensioners in Trafalgar Square after the traditional march, which took
place in a cheearful carnival atmosphere, and then on the TV saw the
BBC attempting to describe a riot.

They had about ten seconds of someone being shoved outside a McDonalds
somewhere else in the country and put it on a continuous loop in the
background as they reported on the pleasant carnival I had just left.


Worth bearing that in mind next time you see the anti Israel
propaganda eminating from the MSM.

Mizter T March 26th 09 07:22 PM

G20 Summit
 

On 26 Mar, 18:43, wrote:

On Mar 25, 2:58*pm, MIG wrote:

On Mar 25, 9:05*pm, "philip" wrote:


(snip)

Thanks for the info everyone. I think that the authorities may be expecting
things to happen in the square mile as we are being warned not to wear
business attire, stagger our arival/departure times, not to leave the
building when we are here etc. and are advising us, if at all possible, to
avoid main line stations . Sounds like they are expecting some real s**t!


More likely that they are planning to dish some out and don't want too
many witnesses around.


For an idea of how accurate the reporting is likely to be, I'll never
forget May Day 2001, where I went home from chatting with some
pensioners in Trafalgar Square after the traditional march, which took
place in a cheearful carnival atmosphere, and then on the TV saw the
BBC attempting to describe a riot.


They had about ten seconds of someone being shoved outside a McDonalds
somewhere else in the country and put it on a continuous loop in the
background as they reported on the pleasant carnival I had just left.


Worth bearing that in mind next time you see the anti Israel
propaganda eminating from the MSM.


Like this?
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072040.html

MIG March 26th 09 10:26 PM

G20 Summit
 
On Mar 26, 6:43*pm, wrote:
On Mar 25, 2:58*pm, MIG wrote:





On Mar 25, 9:05*pm, "philip" wrote:


"Mizter T" wrote in message


....


On 25 Mar, 20:01, "John Salmon" wrote:


"Paul Corfield" wrote


wrote:
Does anyone know if there are plans to change public transport next
Wednesday and Thursday when the Summit is in town. At work we
are being warned about probable disruption (I work in the City) from
demonstrations so I was wondering whether I will be even to get
there or not.


The latest TFL travel information bulletin - out today - identifies the
risk but says there are no advance plans available at this point.


But DLR are saying this:


DLR STATION CLOSURES ON THURSDAY 2 APRIL 2009


Due to the G20 Summit at ExCeL London, the Metropolitan Police have
requested that a number of DLR stations are closed on Thursday 2 April.


The stations affected are Royal Victoria, Custom House for ExCeL and
Prince
Regent. Services will operate as normal on all routes, but will not stop
at the affected stations. Passengers are advised to use their nearest
alternative station.


Times and stations affected may be modified at short notice at Police
request. Please check before you travel.


We apologise for any inconvenience.


Not at all surprised by that - the whole area around the Excel centre
is going to be 'locked down' to the max, and the DLR line in question
skirts the northern perimeter of the centre's grounds. There'll surely
be a heavy BTP presence on the DLR network then too.


Thanks for the info everyone. I think that the authorities may be expecting
things tp happen in the square mile as we are being warned not to wear
business attire, stagger our arival/departure times, not to leave the
building when we are here etc. and are advising us, if at all possible, to
avoid main line stations . Sounds like they are expecting some real s**t!


More likely that they are planning to dish some out and don't want too
many witnesses around.


For an idea of how accurate the reporting is likely to be, I'll never
forget May Day 2001, where I went home from chatting with some
pensioners in Trafalgar Square after the traditional march, which took
place in a cheearful carnival atmosphere, and then on the TV saw the
BBC attempting to describe a riot.


They had about ten seconds of someone being shoved outside a McDonalds
somewhere else in the country and put it on a continuous loop in the
background as they reported on the pleasant carnival I had just left.


Worth bearing that in mind next time you see the anti Israel
propaganda eminating from the MSM.-


Funnily enough, I've spent this evening with some people who are just
back from Gaza, and their eye witness accounts are rather different
from what has been shown on the BBC and similar so far. I won't rely
on such reports.

[email protected] March 27th 09 12:55 AM

G20 Summit
 
In article ,
(Paul Corfield) wrote:

On Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:12:57 -0000, "philip"
wrote:

Does anyone know if there are plans to change public transport next
Wednesday and Thursday when the Summit is in town. At work we are
being warned about probable disruption (I work in the City) from
demonstrations so I was wondering whether I will be even to get there
or not.


The latest TFL travel information bulletin - out today - identifies the
risk but says there are no advance plans available at this point.


I'll be able to bike from King's Cross to Smith Square on Thursday then?

--
Colin Rosenstiel

David Cantrell April 2nd 09 11:39 AM

G20 Summit
 
On Thu, Mar 26, 2009 at 01:41:45PM -0000, John Rowland wrote:
Mizter T wrote:
To be fair, the Excel centre is sort of out of the way somewhat, out
in the 'more distant' Docklands.

Any location that requires the closure of 3 stations can not be called "out
of the way". There are numerous large country hotels in Britain which would
have create negligible disruption to travel.


Quite. And I believe that the PM has a place called "Chequers" he could
use if the hotels - quite sensibly - tell the government that their
disruption is not wanted.

--
David Cantrell | http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david

PERL: Politely Expressed Racoon Love


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