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Fri, 18 Jun 1999, 7:16am EDT
London Metal Exchange Defaced as Protesters Fill City's Financial District
By Andy Webb-Vidal and Michael Bleby
LME Attacked as Protesters Fill City of London (Update1)
(Adds more details of protest from 4th paragraph.)
London, June 18 (Bloomberg) -- The London Metal Exchange,
the world's largest metals bourse, was attacked with red paint by
protesters during a demonstration against capitalism in the City
financial district.
''There are splashes of red paint on the front door but
business will be as normal today,'' said Jonathan Haslam, the
LME's Director of Corporate Affairs. ''There are a number of
contingency measures in place but we can't go into details.''
LME floor traders, who normally begin open outcry dealing at
11:40 a.m., were ordered to arrive early in the morning and will
be locked inside the building for the whole day, brokers said.
In other protests, police cordoned off Liverpool Street at
Broadgate -- home to many brokers and banks -- after as many as
500 people demonstrated outside McDonald's Corp.'s restaurant
close to the main railway station.
''McDonald's is a symbol of the beat of capitalism,'' a
member of London Greenpeace said before the protests. The group
is unconnected to the environmental pressure group Greenpeace.
Police said the road was closed to avoid traffic chaos.
Earlier, protesters wearing hoods chained two cars together
to block the southern approach to London Bridge. They parked two
cars next to each other, blocking two of the road's three lanes,
broke a window on each car, then locked the cars together using a
D-shaped bicycle lock. The drivers then fled.
Some demonstrators broke into a vacant building on Old Broad
Street belonging to National Westminster Bank Plc ''but the
landlord isn't concerned so we're going to leave them there,''
the police spokesman said.
Gas Masks
As many as 20 protesters had gathered outside a Lloyds TSB
Group Plc bank branch in Cheapside, the police spokesman said. A
further 20 people dressed in white protective suits and wearing
gas masks, were distributing leaflets outside the Bank of
England, the spokesman said.
In a counter-demonstration, City workers threw photocopies
of 50 pound ($80) notes out of their office windows in Cannon
Street, reports said.
Protests were planned in 100 cities around the world, the
Reclaim The Streets spokesman said before the event. In Sydney,
police guarded the head office of Australia's largest uranium
producer, North Ltd.'s 68-percent owned Energy Resources of
Australia Ltd., Australian Associated Press reported.
Protesters, encouraged to disguise themselves as office
workers, tourists and cycle couriers in order to fool City of
London security staff and police, are taking part in a day of
demonstrations aimed at disrupting London's financial center.
The day of demonstrations was named J-18, as it coincides
with the start of the G-8 summit by the Group of Eight nations of
leading industrialized countries plus Russia in Cologne.
A spokesman for one of the groups taking part, Reclaim The
Streets, said his group planned peaceful demonstrations against
capitalism, though he couldn't speak for the others. As many as
10,000 people would take part, he said.
Casual Clothes
Businesses in the City aren't taking any risks. Many
instructed staff to wear casual clothes to avoid being targeted
by protesters. Chase Manhattan Bank staff at London Wall have
been advised to stay indoors during the day.
Police said there were no serious disruptions to traffic.
''The traffic is flowing. We've got about 150 cyclists
trundling about the City, and it's normal weekday traffic,'' said
City of London police spokesman. London Transport, which manages
the London Underground subway system and bus services in the
capital, reported no disruptions to traffic so far.
quote.bloomberg.com |
