How much did the October 9th "Sack Parliament" demonstration in Parliament Square cost ?
The Home Office, as usual, claims to have no clue, in their Written Answer to a Parliamentary Question by David Amess MP for Southend West (Conservative).
Hansard 20 Oct 2006 : Column 1459W:
Parliament Square DemonstrationMr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of people who attended the demonstration in Parliament square on 9 October 2006; how many police officers were present; how many (a) women and (b) men were arrested; whether permission was granted beforehand for the demonstration to take place in Parliament square; what the cost was of policing the demonstration; and if he will make a statement. [95124]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not yet available. I will write to the hon. Gentleman when it has been collated by the Metropolitan police.
Given the costs of the Police operations to arrest Brian Haw in May (about £28,000), and the counter-productive Forest Gate raid and shooting incident (1 to 2 million pounds, depending on whether you count normal Police wages, which would have been paid anyway),
Any guesses at over £100.000 ?
We await the Answers about the number of arrests (37 ?) and exactly under which sections of the law they were made.
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat) asked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the cost of the police operation in connection with the "Sack Parliament" demonstration on 9 October.
Baroness Scotland of Asthal (Minister of State, Home Office) | Hansard source
I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that the estimated total policing cost was £298,000. Of this, £221,000 was for opportunity costs and £77,000 for additional policing costs.
Hansard