Sorry this is a bit long …

I have found today a bit difficult. I went to the ‘Occupy Parliament’ campaign in London. I saw things I never thought possible in the UK. I witnessed the British establishment, authorise British police to prevent ordinary British people from campaigning for British democracy in that most sacred of British democratic spaces, Parliament Square, London.
People were arrested (including, bizarrely, the Deputy chair of the London Assembly police and crime committee!) on some charade of an allegation about a tarpaulin being a camping tent whilst others were forcibly removed from the square. Then an 8ft high steel fence was erected around the entire grassy square: police stayed on the inside, campaigners outside.
I am not anti-police but they lied today claiming the square had been closed because the grass needed repairing – despite them continue to use it as a base for their operations for the rest of the day. Farcical.
The people campaigning were a mix of activists, students, middle-aged women, men in smart suits, academics, students and people like me. I saw no people who might be considered a ‘threat’, no terrorists and no anarchist drug-dealing layabouts (I use these words to paint a picture, not demonise the people). So it remains a mystery to me why this bunch of democrats are seen as such a terrifying threat to the establishment. Furthermore, I can find no reason for why the police did what they did.
We cannot support with integrity democratic movements in South America, Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle east, North Africa and, most recently Hong Kong, when we deny the most basic of freedoms to our own citizens. As many have noted, what happened today in Parliament Square, is what we criticise other countries for doing.
So I have struggled today. I think it has been a sad day for democracy and for the country we once called ‘Great’ Britain. Thanks for your interest