The Wave Washes Up On Parliament

Dean Nicholas
By Dean Nicholas Last edited 171 months ago
The Wave Washes Up On Parliament
Photo / racheblue
Photo / racheblue
Photo / Simon-K
Photo / Simon-K
Cops at Grosvenor Square. Photo / peterphotographic
Cops at Grosvenor Square. Photo / peterphotographic
Auditions for the Blue Man Group proved disappointing. Photo / Simon-K
Auditions for the Blue Man Group proved disappointing. Photo / Simon-K
Photo / peterphotographic
Photo / peterphotographic
Photo / peterphotographic
Photo / peterphotographic
Malcolm Tucker made a quick comeback after his sacking. Photo / Simon-K
Malcolm Tucker made a quick comeback after his sacking. Photo / Simon-K

The climate didn't help out — an early spot of sun switched mercilessly for wind and rain by mid-afternoon — but thousands of protestors (20,000 according to police, double that say organisers) assembled in Grosvenor Square yesterday to serve as drops in The Wave, which moved at the pace of a receding glacier through Mayfair toward Whitehall, before forming a moat around Parliament.

Blue was the colour of the day, and the event was peopled by a typically colourful cross-section of London's activist groups, from Oxfam and Greenpeace through to the omnipresent bloviators flogging the Socialist Worker, down to the unthinking pond-life that such movements attract. From what we saw it was a good-natured event (some had such a swell time they decided to spend the night in Trafalgar Square). The Copenhagen summit begins tomorrow.

Many thanks to the photographers who've kindly added the above pictures to the Londonist Flickrpool: Simon-K, peterphotographic, and Racheblue.

Last Updated 06 December 2009