Around 150 people protesting against spending council cuts were occupying intersection of Euston Road, Midland Road and Judd Street, outside Camden Town Hall as of 7.30pm tonight. The often congested A501, or Euston Road, normally moves at a snail's pace at peak hour, but tonight traffic was at a complete standstill for several blocks in both directions.
"We've been out for about half an hour, the council are meeting tonight in there, and we're not allowed in, so that they can make decisions on the cuts behind closed doors," said a woman in her thirties, standing with her two young daughters and husband on the town hall's corner. "If they let us in we'd stop blocking the road."
The woman's husband was having a good-natured but slightly tense debate on whether it was valid to protest, with a man with a briefcase and business clothes, who said, "But we're all in this together," showing clear disapproval of the road block. The woman's husband replied, "Are we? Do you earn over £200,000?" The man replied that he didn't. "Well, people who do are paying less tax than you!"
In the next 15 minutes some protesters were starting to feel the cold starting to bite, and were leaving, but the road remained firmly blocked. Some car drivers at the intersection were trying to negotiate with the protesters to let them through on an individual basis. Passengers abandoned buses.
One protester said that there were a lot of local people there like herself, Unison, a number of other unions and a group of NHS staff against the cuts. Police gathered in small clusters outside the Town Hall, and at various points around the standoff area, looking fairly relaxed.
Clare Hill
Kings Cross Environment 