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Police clear the council chamber |
Riot in the Town Hall
Anger over cuts packages boils over as protesters break in
TENSION over Camden Council’s controversial cuts programme erupted last night (Wednesday) as a tax-setting meeting descended into a riot.
As our exclusive pictures show, police were forced to intervene as protesters broke through security lines and onto the main floor of the council chamber, squaring up nose-to-nose with councillors.
In a sour night at the Town Hall, around 100 objectors to Camden’s cuts proposals were told there was not room for them in the overhead public galleries and that they had to wait outside.
The refusal to let them watch the unfolding debate led to unbridled fury.
One woman – named by friends as ‘Didi’ – tossed the Mayor’s ceremonial mace to the floor, apparently chipping the decorative gold trim.
Another protester fighting to save a play centre from closure clashed with social services chief Councillor Martin Davies as the red mist descended on all sides.
Language was x-rated as emotions boiled over. This was the wildest protest in recent memory at the Town Hall and it took nearly an hour for police to calm the situation. Its seriousness could not be downplayed as insignificant or ignored by the Liberal Democrat and Conservative coalition, which quickly condemned the maverick nature of the protest.
Council leader Councillor Keith Moffitt said: “While we welcome debate and peaceful protest, we deplore the violent and disruptive behaviour from this minority which goes against the recognised democratic process.”
The chaotic scenes – witnessed by children as young as five – are bound to lead to an internal investigation. Police will this morning (Thursday) also be assessing exactly what happened, having already taken informal eye-witness accounts from council staff.
While nobody was arrested on the night, officers could still take retrospective action after studying footage from a host of cameras around the chamber.
The root of the disruption appeared to be the decision to refuse objectors access to the chamber.
Security guards stood, arms folded, in front of the main doors as protesters tried to push their way in, repeatedly chanting: “Let us in.”
The makeshift barricade broke down when a handful of campaigners eventually forced their way through.
Labour laid the blame firmly at the coalition’s door for generating public anger.
Deputy leader Councillor Theo Blackwell said: “You can’t condone this, it went over the top. But people are angry, not only about the cuts to services but also because they feel they haven’t had a chance to speak. It is a sad reflection on the way the new administration is going.”
When the meeting finally resumed, police officers stood guard at the doors. Three vans were waiting outside the Town Hall in Judd Street, King’s Cross, in case of further disturbance. The budget row hinges on the coalition’s historic decision to freeze council tax.
While Camden’s residents can expect no new demand when the council tax books hit doormats next month, various groups and services across the borough say they are bearing the brunt of a swingeing £23-million cuts programme.
More than 350 council jobs are on the line, the Kilburn Grange play centre faces the axe, while voluntary groups will have to get by with reduced funding. On top of that, charges for council services – including Meals on Wheels dinners – will rise to pay for the freeze. Earlier in the evening, anti-cuts protesters and union members marched to the Town Hall from Mornington Crescent, stopping the traffic.
Labour councillor Julian Fulbrook described the budget as a “thoughtless blunderbuss approach”. The budget had already been ratified by cabinet members last Wednesday and was finally approved when coalition backbenchers offered their support, outflanking Labour and Green dissenters.
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