Blair protesters pull out of police talks
Updated on 26 January 2010
The Stop the War coalition have expressed their frustration with the Metropolitan Police and told Channel 4 News they have pulled out of discussions with them about demonstrations coinciding with Tony Blair's appearance at the Iraq Inquiry on Friday.
The anti-war group had been in talks with police to arrange their protest outside the Queen Elizabeth II centre, where the former Prime Minister will be giving evidence.
But the group pulled out of talks and called for a "mass mobilisation of anti-war protesters" after the Metropolitan Police told them they would not be able to hold their demonstration on a green space outside the centre, where they had held all previous action.
Earlier the Metropolitan Police told Channel 4 News they were having a "very constructive dialogue" with protest organisers and were "trying to ensure they are as near as they want to be".
But the spot in question is on the property of the Queen Elizabeth II Centre, a government-owned building, and the Stop the War coalition have alleged that the QE2 decided not to allow them to protest there, adding "the government have effectively banned us from protesting".
The Metropolitan Police have denied press reports they were preparing to use so-called "kettling" tactics against the protesters, saying they had a number of tactics at their disposal.
The event had been seen as the first major test of public order policing since the "Adapting to Protest" review by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) published last November.
The review was triggered by criticism of the policing of the G20 protest last year, where there were a number of complaints, and the newspaper vendor Ian Tomlinson died.
Original plans for Friday's protest included a "naming of the dead ceremony" and musical performances throughout the morning.
