Thatcher's house picketed
The London branch of the 80/81 Hunger Strike Committee commemorated the beginning of the 1981 Hunger Strike on Thursday 1 March by holding a candlelit vigil on the doorstep of Margaret Thatcher's house in Chester Square, Belgravia in central London. They were also joined by several members of the Scottish branch, who had travelled down from Glasgow for the event. Despite the efforts of the Metropolitan police to persuade demonstrators to leave, they remained in place for over an hour. As a result, Thatcher, who was at home at the time, was obliged to leave the house through the rear entrance in order to get to her engagement.
One of the organisers, Nick Mullen, told An Phoblacht that as the 20 members of the vigil turned up, the police officer standing guard on the house, immediately radioed for help. In less than two minutes three laden squad cars and two van loads of policemen appeared, with the effect that the police almost outnumbered the demonstrators. One officer was ordered to investigate the ``substance'' seen under a huge Mercedes parked outside Thatcher's house. Pushing several demonstrators out of the way in order to get to it, he discovered that it was melted wax from one of the candles.
``They asked us what it was all about and would we mind standing on the other side of the road,'' said Nick Mullen. ``We said yes we would, because the whole point was to stand outside her house. It was to remind her that her policies have been rejected, but these men who she sought to criminalise will never be forgotten. We hold Thatcher and her intransigence a great deal to blame and she will eventually be held to account for her role in their deaths.
``I also told the police that we would see them again, in the same place, in 61 days, and that they would be seeing us in Chester Square at regular intervals during the next few months.''
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