From: [tryme 35068] at [aol.com] (TRYME35068)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns
Subject: Britian Crime Bill Causes Riots in London
Date: 9 Oct 1994 19:10:08 -0400

Read in AP from AOL and saw the same on CBS news:

"Law and Order Protest Turns Violent 

    LONDON (Reuter) - Opponents of a new law and order bill battled police
across central London on Sunday at the end of what organizers called
Britain's biggest civil rights march. 
    Hundreds of rioters hurled bottles, cans and bricks at baton-wielding
police in exclusive Park Lane, along the eastern side of Hyde Park, after
the march had ended, before taking the fight into Oxford Street, the
city's main shopping thoroughfare. 
    A hardcore of marchers demolished bus stands, burned bonfires of
rubbish in the street and tried to overturn vehicles as they fought off
charges by police in riot gear. 
    The police, who had to shield tourists caught up in the fray, said aen
made in the worst riots since an anti-racism demonstration turned violent
a year ago. 
    ``The center of London would not have rocked tonight if police had
withdrawn and not charged repeatedly at us," said Joe Hill, who is a
member of a radical group called Class War. 
    Hundreds of police swept in lines across the expanse of Hyde park,
pushing demonstrators east towards the landmark Marble Arch intersection
and Oxford Street which runs east from it. A loudspeaker in a helicopter
circling overhead ordered demonstrators to ``disperse now or force will be
used." 
    Underground railway stations were closed and road traffic was diverted
as the clashes worsened. 
    Tourists from hotels in the area watched in disbelief as police on
horseback raced down Oxford Street chasing protesters who smashed shop
windows and overturning litter bins. 
    Organizers of the earlier peaceful rally, held in mild, clear autumn
weather, said 100,000 people had turned out to call for the Criminal
Justice Bill to be scrapped before it becomes law later this month. 
    The new bill weakens a defendant's traditional right to silence,
tightens the law to prevent squatting and lets police break up groups of
nine or more people if they suspect the gathering might become a threat to
public order. 

Transmitted:  94-10-09 18:37:20 EDT"

I guess the Brits take their civil liberties more serious than most 
"Americans".  The British also have the most stringent gun control
in the world.  Why do they need a crime bill?

glv