Burning down the House

Anarchists set off fireworks and danced to drum and bass music in Parliament Square last night in celebration of Guy Fawkes attempt to blow up the Palace of Westminster.

Anarchists set off fireworks and danced to drum and bass music in Parliament Square last night in celebration of Guy Fawkes attempt to blow up the Palace of Westminster.

Revellers, many dressed as Guy Fawkes, gathered from 9 o-clock in Parliament Square after a call out published on activist website Indymedia London.

Fire breathers and other performance artists entertained the crowd, as they fired rockets at Parliament and danced to music from a makeshift soundsystem that had been towed to the site by bicycle.

Some fireworks came close to hitting police guarding the entrances to Parliament, while one firecracker which was aimed at police but missed nearly set fire to the tent of long term peace protestor Brian Haw. Revellers laughed it off, labelling it "friendly fire".

One man, who preferred not to be identified but who regularly attends such events, said: "This is less of a protest and more of a party. We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the fact that the police broke up a party of ours in the East End last year."

Reports came through via text message that up to ten police vans had gathered in London Fields in anticipation of a similar gathering there. But it seemed that police had been caught off guard by the Parliament Square demo, despite the details being published online. "So much for police intelligence," laughed a protestor.

Despite the good natured atmosphere, demonstrators still expressed anger towards the politicians in Parliament and what they represented. "Guy Fawkes was the only honest man with honest intentions ever to enter that building," said one.

Police began to gradually encircle the party from 11 o-clock. Citing Section 12 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act they demanded that demonstrators hand over their drinks. They faced accusations of encouraging binge drinking from some after allowing people to down their drinks rather than hand them over half finished.