honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 3:09 p.m., Friday, October 10, 2008

Protesters, police clash outside Bank of England

Photo gallery: Protestors, police clash in Lond

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

British police officers try to block demonstrators protesting in central London's City financial district on Friday. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares plunged 7.1 percent in the first half hour of trading on the London Stock Exchange Friday morning, tracking steep declines in Europe, Asia and the U.S. Fears that the deepening credit crisis will result in the failure of more financial companies continued to grow. Several hundred protesters turned out to demonstrate against the British government's bank bailout. Earlier this week, the government announced a 50 billion pound (US$86 billion) plan to partly nationalize major banks and guarantee a further 250 billion pounds (US$431 billion) of bank loans to shore up the lending sector.

LEFTERIS PITARAKIS | Associated Press

spacer spacer

LONDON — Demonstrators jostled with police while trying to force their way into the Royal Exchange building next to the Bank of England during a demonstration Friday against the British government's bank bailout.

After being turned back, the protesters ran through nearby city streets and pushed passed a small group of officers who tried to stop them. There were no arrests, and no one was injured, according to police.

About several hundred people, mostly students and Socialist Worker Party activists, turned out for the late-afternoon protest against the government's 50 billion pound (U.S.$86 billion) plan to partly nationalize major banks, while guaranteeing a further 250 billion pounds (U.S.$431 billion) of bank loans.

"Whose money? Our Money!" chanted the protesters, some of whom carried placards reading "Why should we pay for their crisis?"

The building the protesters tried to enter had been a center of commerce from the 1500s, but is now a shopping center.

Many directed their anger at the city's bankers.

"They do nothing," Martin Smith said. "If times are good they get money. If times are bad they get money."