No idea...

I'm all up for going to protest about freedom of speech though

if you want to do this you should make it big as possible and have a hand holding marker right across the damned thing!

if you do, can I join in? :)

Re: the exclusion zone... wow. Even we don't have anything like that. I seem to remember that for the Democratic National Convention in Boston they had a designated area for demonstating that was nowhere near the event. It was pretty funny.

Re: entry: Amercans aren't likely to know, Angus: we don't get hassled on the way in. But here's a helpful Canadian site that seems to indicate you'd need to ask way in advance:

http://www.voyage.gc.ca/main/before/travel_us-en.asp#4

Hey mate

Is there anywhere close to the shop where myself and Steve can hole up and have some people meet us? Somewhere like a Starbucks where they wont mind us sitting and receiving 2 groups of people?

Ta!

Just a Suggestion, but why not play their game better than them and see what it takes to set up an "authorised" protest, after all, no better test of rules than when you try and play by them, besides, standing on the edge of the barrier is all well and good, but if they refuse you the right to protest when you've asked them, then you have a serious ground for complaining...........

In my experience, nothing harrasses security more than people who are supposed to be there, because they can't touch you and as long as you keep within the boundaries, they can't do a thing about it.

If you wander down en masse, you constitute a gathering, and the police have rights to disperse any gathering that seems to be causing an undesirable response in the surrounding area, what constitutes an undesirable presence is defined by those who spend most time in it, which by default is the MP's

Before anyone gets on their high horse about me defending the government, I'm not, I've just got experience of how they work and how they deal with things, meaningful protest is all well and good, but inevitably looks like a disorganised rabble unless you've got thousands turning up (and cameras can be used to remarkably good advantage in such arenas), and if you have thousands turning up, you're clearly in breach of a number of other regulations regarding how many people are allowed in one place without constituting a blockage.

So the suggestion still stands, find out what you need to make an authorised protest, if you like, I'll do it for you, put the word out, which is not that hard to do, and when ten thousand people turn up to support the authorised protest (with no fear of arrest), you'll get the attention you're after. If they only allow (for example) ten people at a time, great, call to every newspaper in the london area on their ruling, copies of the letters indicating how many protesters you're allowed, you'll get on the front page of most tabloids with the headline of "So this is how the government lets you protest?"

Either way, you'll get the attention you seek.

Got to play the game though.

You've got the phone number if you need it organising

All the best

You'll need to apply for a US visa. These aren't usually required for UK citizens unless you've been arrested (you don't even have to be charged or found guilty, merely arrested). There's info on the US embassy web site:

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/visa/niv/add_crime.html

Hmmmmn.
I agree.
Our problem with a protest is the lack of humour towards us from the courts.
This being said- if you demand a tral by jury you can openly BREAK the law- plead 'not guilty' on grounds of it being a silly law and STILL get off.
Lest we forget the mass protest by Greenpeace protestors a few years ago- they openly tore up a field of GM modified crops; got arrested, turned up- argued YES, they broke the law but YES, the law was meant to be broken, and in a stunning move the jury decided to find them "not guilty".
So what if the police had video pictures of them doing it; so what if their faces were seen (they didn't even bother to cover up). the jury agreed and as their peers had them released- it was a GREAT day for the British Legal system.

My honest advice- use satire/humour to protest it. In fact DON'T protest it.
I would go for a mass 'charity pillow race' down Whitehall- of course the charity is someone like Amnesty. Or a mass 'sponsored lurk'.
Something SO silly that to even arrest would make the police look silly.
Do NOT scream and shout- the truth is NO ONE listens if you shout. You come across as one of the 'politically motivated' and in this current climate this is not good.
Shame them with humour.
Satire their asses!

Painting the boundries would be BLOODY funny (but you would get arrested for that unless it was water based on a sunny day- still get arrested).
Something that the press would find funny to see- look at recent protests. The BEST was the antui-nuclear protestors who bum rushed the gates of RAF Fylingdales dressed in giant ICBM suits- it was tearfully funny!

To 'support' the government is great- of course there have been some ace protests we should look towards- like the boys who spentainiously held a carnival on the M25 (Critical mass I think)... they held a Carnival- got moved on by the police who discovered that they had used the noise as a cover to plant four trees in the fast lane... FUNNY!

Use Flashmobs; use humour; use the absured.

"To sin by silence makes cowards of us all"

I am more than up for this.

I'd be up for it. I wouldn't be willing to do anything that might get me arrested however, as I could be disqualified as a director if that happened.
Which would be bad.

As Mark says - Satire is good. A lone protestor with a placard being manhandled ot the ground by people wearing TB masks for example.

Best way to find out about the laws about entering the US, is to talk to the US Embassy in London. Web pages are way outta date sometimes, if they even have the right info on them in the first place.

Typing "Westminster exclusions zone map" into google leads you to:
http://www.bloggerheads.com/archives/2005/06/the_terrorists.asp

People have protested there already more than once. They took along pens and paper to "make banners for other marches" if I recall correctly.

As for the "conditional discharge" - yes, it does go on your permanant record. As this relates to entrance to America the exact law can be found here (http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/ineligibilities/ineligibilities_1364.html).

Before you will be allowed to set up anything like a process, you will need to go to the Metroplotian police website and look at the details there. You will also need to apply to the Public order Office. Here's a few handy tips:

http://www.yourrights.org.uk/your-rights/chapters/the-right-of-peaceful-protest/organising-a-protest/making-contact-with-the-police.shtml

Also as a thought, whilst you may not have permission to protest on parliamentary owned grounds, the actual large piece of grassland outside parliament is owned by the Mayor of London, so you can always apply to protest there instead.

http://www.met.police.uk/publicorder/index.htm

Apparently they're pretty good people to deal with

sounds gneraly good. I;d be interested in an appropreate trip to london...

Count me in,too.