I fled the City yesterday evening , heading for the little town of Shaftesbury ( how still we see thee lie).
Just as well , as I was leaving behind me a heaving cauldron of social discontent that extended from the offices of Goldman Sachs in Shoe Lane to the legal chambers of Fetter lane.
Due to reports of anti-social behaviour, a Section 35 Dispersal Order has been put in place in the area shown below until 12am on Saturday 23 December.
People who are suspected to be involved in crime or anti-social behaviour may be asked to leave the area. pic.twitter.com/BmFhc9cBTh
— City of London Police (@CityPolice) December 22, 2023
Thanks to American journo Helen Burggraf for tipping me off about riots in the streets of F. Good to see the City of London are adopting a zero tolerance policy this Saturday morning.
A section 35 dispersal order gives uniformed police the power to remove those indulging in anti-social behaviour from particular streets. As it happens I normally live adjacent to the dispersal zone. I fear the worst, manic bond traders rampaging across Blackfriars and the Barbican , dispersed from their natural place of protest. Will I have a property to return to after the festivities are over?
There is nothing on the City of London Police website to indicate what the nature of the potential insurrection might be. This is the morning of the great meat sale in Smithfield Market where carnivores descend to pick up last minute turkeys. I’ve hung around there a few years but have never been picked up.
Maybe a few bankers and lawyers, buoyed by the recent Santa rally in the markets are thought to be getting over-exuberant .
Or maybe the rascals from the ghettos of Hackney, Tottenham and Lambeth are rumoured to be mobbing the streets this morning after being ejected from Fusion, Maddison’s and Sabines, our City nightspots.
So if you are thinking of loitering this morning in these mean streets of Farringdon, be prepared to be dispersed. The City of London police mean business
