{"id":36343,"date":"2019-12-13T15:35:35","date_gmt":"2019-12-13T15:35:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/?p=36343"},"modified":"2019-12-13T15:35:35","modified_gmt":"2019-12-13T15:35:35","slug":"underneath-nelsons-column","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/underneath-nelsons-column\/","title":{"rendered":"Underneath Nelson’s Column"},"content":{"rendered":"

Underneath Nelson\u2019s Column<\/strong>, sirens scream and wheels screech, boots clomp and hooves clop as hundreds of police assemble. A news van rolls in and a made-up reporter emerges from the passenger side while the rest of the team launch camera, light and audio equipment out the rear doors and onto the concrete.<\/p>\n

A lorry stops dead on the A4 at the base of the monument.<\/p>\n

Pop-up stalls erect and campaigners emerge engaging with the newly-formed crowd, encouraging them to take one of the thousands of leaflets, to carry one of the thousands of placards, to march with them \u2013 as one of the thousands.<\/p>\n

The lorry becomes a thundering stage having shed its curtains. Activists shout down microphones and their words echo above the clamorous crowd below.<\/p>\n

A series of banners, each five or so people long, unfurl across the ones fronting the march and they aim the procession down a near-empty road flanked by metal barriers and glowing police officers.<\/p>\n

From Trafalgar Square, protesters will march for just under a mile.
\nJust under a mile away, Donald Trump is attending a dinner at Buckingham Palace.<\/p>\n

Nurses and doctors are leading this rally, ordering President Trump to keep his \u201chands off our NHS\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n