If just ten thousand people had turned up the action would have been a success as the police could not have cordoned in ten thousand and if they tried that number could easily have fought their way out of any police cordon.

Something I only became aware of on Monday is how vulnerable some of the police believe themselves to be. When they surround protesters they have their backs to the world. In order to protect those backs it requires a second cordon facing outwards, thus requiring extra police numbers for several hours. I wonder how much the policing of this event cost the taxpayer?

There appears to be more police than protestors. Maybe the police really wanted to join in the Sack Parliament demo? Lets face it, their pay and conditions are crap too!

you say 10,000 would have succeeded
why ?
do you think that the cops you 'SEEN'' weren't backed up by thousands more [if needed]
inside some building somewhere near the vicinity of parliament ,wait police re-inforcements , and more in vans nearby ,
after j18... [1999]..... the cops will never be caught out like that again
they always prepare for a worst case senario

. . . by the way - "j18" "riot was after the police horses were given orders to charge the demo - against the recommendations of the inquiry into the polltax T-square "riot" - a f t e r the symbolic "wall across the "futures" bit had got "out of (anybodys) control -for a bit - then - after people had got pushed down the street back from that door, they had quietened down, but then, police horse charge. quite senior police officers were surprised too . . . .

a sort of op, called "inoculatory" . . . . seattle too . . . . forestry commissions use words such as "burn back" - (blowback is different)

rts video footage shows police recognised - IN FACT - were involved in SOME of this sort of thing at other demos - but . . . .not all ....

are here

 http://johnnyvoid.blogspot.com/2006/10/sack-parliament-in-pictures.html

(never said i was a fucking photographer by the way)