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Protest by Fathers' Rights Group
The Fathers 4 Justice group clashed with police after a man involved in the flour attack on Tony Blair was held for breaching bail conditions. Ron Davis has been banned from the City of Westminster, after being accused of disrupting Prime Minister's Questions. He arrived in a bus for a march on Friday which went into the area. As he was put into a police van, other protesters jostled with officers. The march through central London was to highlight the rights of fathers. Glen Poole, a spokesman for the group, said the police had re-routed the bus away from the Camden side of Lincoln's Inn Field in to the Westminster half. Mr Poole said: "They have arrested him for breach of bail conditions - a situation they appear to have manipulated." As police tried to drive off, protesters sat in the road. Police lifted the protesters off the street before driving off. June 2004
Campaigning Dads March for Rights - Staff at Downing Street refused entry to members of campaign group Fathers-4-Justice despite agreeing to allow them to present a petition. About 30 local members of the fathers' rights group took part in the demonstration. Most of the 2,000 protesters dressed in purple, the international colour of equality. They waved banners and flags, banged drums and blew horns on the peaceful march. Jason Hatch, who lives in Cheltenham, was planning to present the petition. He said: "It was disappointing that we were refused entry but everything else has been absolutely brilliant. Everyone has been so supportive." 19 June 2004
Pressure group Fathers 4 Justice was preparing to take the capital by storm with a series of demonstrations. In the run-up to Father's Day this weekend, the group, which fights for equal child access for fathers, will march on Downing Street, armed with a petition. F4J - best known for its flour bomb stunt during Prime Minister's Questions - expects thousands of supporters to attend.
Dubbed D-Day, or Day of the Dad Civil Rights March, the demonstrators will leave Lincoln's Inn Fields in central London and travel via the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand and Trafalgar Square before arriving at No 10. Matt O'Connor, founder of Fathers 4 Justice, said the procession would include a giant purple balloon - purple is the colour of international equality - as well as drummers and stilt walkers.
On arrival at Downing Street, a delegation of six fathers will hand over their Blueprint for Family Law in the 21st Century. The group insists urgent reform is needed to give fathers more power to fight for access to their children. Mr O'Connor said: "I don't think that Father's Day will ever be seen in the same light after this year. "After the flour bombing, we received in excess of 11,000 inquiries from the UK and around the world. "The response has been overwhelming, our membership projections have gone stratospheric." June 2004
Members of the group were behind last month's flour bomb attack in the House of Commons. Ron Davis,48, one of the men involved in the flour attack on Prime Minister Tony Blair, was arrested before the demo for breaching bail conditions he received following the Commons incident.
He faces trial for threatening behaviour and has been banned from entering the City of Westminster following the flour stunt during Prime Minister's Question Time. He arrived for the day of protest on a bus and police pounced when it entered the Westminster area.
There were further clashes when demonstrators staged a sit-down protest in the middle of central London - officers moved in to remove them. The group, which campaigns for equal child access for fathers, marched to the gates of Downing Street armed with a petition. Dubbed D-Day, or Day of the Dad Civil Rights March, the demonstrators left Lincoln's Inn Fields via the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand and Trafalgar Square before arriving in Downing Street.
The procession included a giant purple balloon - the colour represents international equality. Addressing a crowd of around 1,000 demonstrators, the group's spokesman Glen Poole, said: "Every day 100 children are removed from their fathers' lives - this is a travesty that the government knows about but refuses to act upon. "We are taking the problem to Tony Blair and telling him: here is the problem, here is the solution." June 2004 |
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