Victoria Tube Station,
London, 1 March 2012
In the early hours of this morning the Occupy London Stock Exchange protest camp outside St. Paul’s Cathedral was cleared by bailiffs and police, enforcing a High Court order.
You can read a timeline of the night’s events, including interviews with some of the protestors, on the Guardian website here. Occupy London, which campaigns against corporate greed, had held occupied the site since 15 October 2011.
On their website, the Occupy movement have posted a notice: “This is only the beginning”. Read their statement here.
Anti-cuts campaigners will hold a protest outside a council meeting tonight where £21million budget cuts are likely to be approved. The Haringey Alliance for Public Services will meet at Wood Green Library in High Road at 6pm to march to Haringey Civic Centre, where councillors will agree the budget for the next year. Read more here.
Islington Council is also sitting to agree their budget today and is likely to feature protests outside, according to local press reports.
This time last year I was traveling around the UK photographing similar City Council budget meetings (to produce the series Star Chambers) where huge tranches of cuts to public services were being agreed.
In Leeds City Council budget meeting (pictured), which was held on 23rd February 2011, dozens of protesters stormed the meeting held in the Civic Hall, occupying the council chamber for 90 minutes before they were removed by police. In the end the Council agreed to slash the annual budget by £90m, affecting services across the county including the loss of 1,500 staff posts, the closure of up to 13 buildings in adult social care, reductions in grants to arts organisations and a review of library services.
It’s likely that we’re going to see a second year of austerity cuts across councils.
A newly framed print for the studio: Sun-yellowed by TV by Millie Burton. This beautiful print comes from Millie’s Home Improvements series (and that’s Josef Konczak reflected in the glass!).
New in my photo library, Donovan Wylie’s book Outposts published by Steidl, 2011.
Outposts / Kandahar Province presents Donovan’s photographs of Forward Operating Bases constructed in the Kandahar Province of Afghanistan. The images are the latest phase in Wylie’s interrogation of the architecture of modern conflict.
You can watch Donovan discuss the work on a video by the National Media Museum here.
Athletes training in preparation for the Diving World Cup 2012 at the Aquatics Centre, Olympic Park, London. 17 February 2012.
Street art on a wall near the Olympic Park in Stratford, London by A and A. 16 February 2012
Members of Anonymous group at the Occupy London site, St Paul’s Cathedral, London. 16 February 2012. From the series 120 seconds.
Update 22.02.2012: the Occupy St Paul’s movement lost their appeal against eviction. Read more here.