Man with megaphone and placards at Unite Against Fascism protest at BBC against Nick Griffin appearing on Question Time.
The main Unite Against Fascism demonstration outside the BBC against the TV appearance of BNP leader Nick Griffin wasn't due to start until 5pm, but as I arrived 40 minutes earlier there were already almost a thousand people there, and a crowd was moving towards the main vehicle gate to enter the premises. Around twenty people including several photographers went through before police formed a line and stopped the rush. Most if not all of them were escorted out a few minutes later, though apparently a few made it to the actual studio. Meanwhile the rest of the crowd formed a chanting mass in front of the gates. The crowd then formed up on the side of the road which police were attempting to keep clear. There was a little pushing and shoving, but mostly it was good-tempered and the demonstration stewards established a gap between police and protesters outside the main gate. The crowd was still growing and police were trying hard to keep the road past the BBC open, pushing people back onto the pavement. But by a quarter to five there were just too many to hold and the road was occupied by the protesters. A little after 5pm there were loud cheers as one of the organisers reported that police had told Mr Griffin that they could not guarantee his safety if he tried to use the normal entrance to the BBC, and he had refused to take the risk. Later we heard that he was going to try to use a back entrance to the extensive BBC site, and there were some scuffles as groups of demonstrators tried to head in what they thought was the right direction to head him off but were stopped by police.
Size: 5040px × 3354px
Location: BBC TV Centre, Wood Lane, London, UK
Photo credit: © Peter Marshall / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: banners, bbc, bnp, crowd, fascist, griffin, lane, megaphone, nationalist, nick, party, placards, police, protest, question, racist, studios, time, tv, uaf, wood
