some shots fom the space hijackers' "spoil for choice" election battlebus, and then from parliament square

the space hijackers hired an open-top bus as a spoof election battle bus on behalf of no party. a huge sound system and party atmosphere attracted the attention of passers-by who were invited to spoil their ballot papers on may 6th as an active response to the election. loads of leaflets were passed out, and stickers shared, and public reaction was overwhelmingly good - let's face it, most folk are really looking for something other than the three choices we're offered, and in most constituencies, the vote is pre-determined and pointless anyway. ballot-spoiling offers a real alternative voice. (of course there's still the more radical and logical argument that even spoiling your ballot paper conveys some legitimacy to the whole democratic facade, and perhaps it's better to just ignore the muppets and carry on organising alternatives.)

after a couple of hours on the road, the bus made it to parliament square, but the plan to go round the square was stymied by a bunch of pesky anarchists and cyclists who had closed off the road in front of parliament. still, a journey past downing street and round trafalgar square and back to parliament picked up a load more passengers and a whole load of class war posters.

in the square, around 4.30pm the road had mostly cleared apart from four people who seemed oblivious to the traffic chaos they were causing. but when they moved away and the police opened the road, some masked black-clad folk bravely defied the traffic and gradually people were drawn back into the road, and after a stand-off with the police, cars were backed up, the road was coned off and the party continued. after this success, the anarchists went on to close off westminster bridge, and the police again facilitated peaceful protest, (after taking lots of pics of the anarchists for later use.)

on the subject of later use, after rain stopped play and most players had moved on to the waterloo street paper (cleverly held under cover), police forensics tried to take samples from the new paintwork on the churchill statue. one plucky human rights proclaimer got unceremoniously dragged out of the way, and about 20 cops stood around in the rain protecting the forensic team as they discovered that the spray paint was manufactured in china.

as the perpetrators were no doubt closely photographed from the hovering police helicopter earlier in the afternoon, they'd probably best avoid eating chinese over the next few days and at any near-future protests, or they might find themselves raided/snatched. the churchill statue has always been a sensitive matter, partly due to pressure from MP nicholas soames who is churchill's grandson. soames is of course and arms dealer (aegis defense), a dangerous driver (convicted last year), and an inheritance tax dodger (uncovered by mark thomas), but none of this stops him from claiming the moral high ground to protect his grandfather, the civilian mass-murderer who is honoured in parliament square.

as torrential rain set in, the peoples' assembly pitched their tents ready for daily peoples' politics right up to election day. tonight there are more than twenty tents pitched and there's a brilliant 'rocket fire' and plenty of tarpaulin and cosy bedding to protect against the elements. the main call from the camp is to highlight the continuing wars and to call to bring the troops home.

all are welcome to join the peacestrike camp in the run-up to the election, and can find out more details at their website. anyone noticed incidentally the virtual news black-out on the wars? an NUJ journalist confirmed today that the media has an unnoficial veto on war news until after the election. the peacestrike camp is hoping to challenge that veto with a large presence in the square. imagine the whole square full of tents by thursday - you can help make it happen!