If it went off peacefully there would be nothing in the newspapers. That would be no fun,' said Stephen Micaoel, an anarchist poet and squatter. Many of the Wombles agree. One of their leaders, Mike, knows it is inevitable. He does not consider damage to property to be violent.
Violence involves giving pain to another live being.
A window does not feel pain,' he said. Shops across the capital, from McDonald's to a west London fur shop, from Mayfair hotels to Coutts Bank, are braced for the worst. None has plans to close for the day, but if the worst comes to the worst their shutters will come rattling down. All have drafted in extra security. In that respect, police and hard core protesters could both get what they want.