Arrests up at Notting Hill Carnival as police given new search powers

Why was i suprised by the 11,000 police drafted in to Nottinghill Carnival this year?

Getting tough on criminals is a constant refrain of the police and the government. The police announced that the Notting Hill Carnival last weekend would be a "hostile environment" for criminals.

But like every other clampdown on crime, it did little to stop crime but much to add to the climate of alienation and racism felt by young people.

Up by an extra 8,000 from last year, it's no coincidence that arrests were also up given the numbers of pigs and methods employed.

One black professional said how he was stopped and searched no fewer than 5 times. Chief Inspector Jo Edwards said: “The number of arrests is up on last year, but that is predominantly because of proactive policing.” Even early in the day we had witnessed many arrests being made-all of them were young black males. The governments Stop and Search policy is as racist now as it was when first introduced.



(my sons very own 'Stop and Search'
document-apparently hanging around on the
South Bank with brown-ish skin means
you are likely to be 'causing trouble')




Violence broke out in the final 30minutes over the police's heavy-handed approach to closing down the music. Around 40 angry revellers pelted the pigs with bottles and other missiles hitting one in the face and grounding another. One witness said "it was a full-scale riot. Bottles were flying everywhere. The mob weren't scared, they were running towards the police chanting 'one, two, three' and charging at them...it reminded me of the Brixton riots'.


Read Carnival crackdown hits young black men

Amongst the usual tables and stalls selling food, drink, souvenirs etc there were a few with a distinctly political message. Our Socialist Worker table, covered in anti-BNP and #1 Terrorist posters was well received. The odd person moaned at us to 'take a day off will ya-this is supposed to be a festival'...the fact that Nottinghill carnival has for over 30 years, had a strong anti-racist message, had clearly passed them by.

The photo on the right shows an impromptu stunt we helped organise using police barricades with campaigners for Binyam Mohammed