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Locked in the Commons' cloakroom, Johnson stalled for time
“The iconic image of the 2009 coup is the refusal of Britain’s beleaguered prime minister, Alan Johnson, to obey Riley's order to sit down. Johnson stands while Defence Secretary, Charles Guthtrie, challenges Riley's men to put down their weapons. Out of camera shot, the leader of the Socialist Alternative, Michael Meacher, also stays put, impassively reading a book. These three gestures of resistance tell a lot about the three men who put their lives on the line that day. Johnson had won the first democratic elections in the UK since 1966. But by 2009 Johnson seemed impotent in the face of enormous economic challenges and increased saber rattling by the army. As the coup erupted Johnson was being voted back into office on a reduced majority.” - Alan Johnson and the 2009 coup, Joe Brennan, The Irish Times (2019)
The Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP was one of the few members of Parliament not currently locked in the Commons. As Attorney General, part of Khan’s role was to represent the government’s interests in legal cases and he was currently at the Supreme Court observing a case on EU human rights legislation. This was until a group of gentlemen from the Palace came to whisk him away. As it happened Khan was the highest ranking Government official without a gun to his head, and with Mr Johnson indisposed, her majesty was intending to swear him in as acting Prime Minister. With a rather rushed kiss of the hands Khan was now Britain's first ethnic minority Prime Minister, alongside the half-dozen junior ministers also not in the Chamber the Palace had been able to round up, Khan was now the head of Britain’s Provisional Government.
As Khan was confirmed as acting Prime Minister, the international community was reeling, both the US and EU condemned the coup, EU President Margot Wallstrom declared the coup to be an act of terrorism. In Dublin the Irish Government was reeling, as Salvation forces secured control of Northern Ireland thousands of refugees were streaming over the border and troops loyal to Riley and Hamilton had begun setting up checkpoints along the Irish border to stem the tide. The Irish border had been open since the Cardiff Accords were signed, meaning there was no Garda or Irish Army presence able to stop the Mountbattenite forces. Taoiseach Brian Cowen now had the choice of sending Irish forces to open the border, or allowing Salvation forces to shut the border. With all the chaos engulfing the island, Cowen dared not risk further escalation with the British and opted to do nothing. Whilst several thousand had managed to flee overnight, by sunrise on the 11th the Irish Border was shut.
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Former IRA members were really regretting giving their guns up
There was some good news for those loyal to the democratic government, an attempted Mountbattenite mutiny in Berkshire had been crushed as a group of young loyalist squaddies refused to support their Mountbattenite officers. The failure in Berkshire had prevented a further fire to be put out, and most importantly, Mountbattenite forces had failed to secure RAF Greenham and the nuclear stockpile within. The air force in particular had been almost entirely loyal to the democratic administration, as the ground forces dissolved into infighting. At around 7am riot police were able to recapture Broadcasting House after Salvation forces surrendered. Kilroy-Silk and his compatriots were arrested and the provisional government regained control of national communications.
“The pro-coup forces have seized control of Northern Ireland, under the command of General James Hamilton. A supporter of the late dictator Peter Hill Norton, the former Lord Lieutenant was recently discharged from the army. The general has declared a state of emergency and ordered tanks onto the streets of Belfast. In London the rebel army took over radio and TV stations for 14 hours. They dispersed when riot police arrived on the scene. The Queen has called Attorney General Sadiq Khan to lead a Provisional Government based at Buckingham Palace. The Provisional Government has issued a communiqué saying all measures will be taken to put down the rebellion. Despite these reassurances Brits are now wondering how long their four-year democracy can last.” - Rebel army seizes control in UK, Fox News Bulletin (2009)
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After losing control of Broadcasting House and failed uprisings across England, the men in Belfast and Westminster were on their own
Losing control of the BBC was the least of Riley’s worries as inside the Commons all seven of the senior figures he had dragged into a separate cloakroom were refusing to sign their support for the Salvation Government. Things would get even more complicated as Field Marshall Richard Dannatt, a former Chief of the Army staff arrived on scene and demanded to speak with Riley. Dannatt lied and claimed he had been to see the Queen and she had appointed him as First Lord, ordering Riley to recognise his command. Dannatt had been involved in the coups’ planning but had been supportive of a “soft coup” creating a civilian-military authority including both main parties. Riley on the other hand supported a return to full military rule and refused to recognise Dannatt’s authority. Dannatt was allowed to come and go as he pleased but with most of the men in Parliament loyal to Riley, Dannatt was decidedly not in control.
The Palace was silent, the Provisional Government was floundering and the politicians were hostages, but up and down the country thousands were taking to the streets, these were not union barons or NGO directors but mostly students and young people. Dubbed the “freedom generation” of those born in the 90s and late 80s, who had come of age as the Junta fell. Organised over up-and-coming social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, these young people organised protests armed only with their phones in unprecedented displays of bottom-up solitary and organisation. Protesters would go door to door handing out food and flowers and even broke into impromptu street parties. In probably the most bizarre event of the whole uprising were songs by the Black Eyed-Peas - an a-political hip-hop group from the states - became defining tunes of resistance. International correspondents traveling around London filming resistance to the coup instead came across students loudly singing “I Gotta Feeling” and “Where is the Love” out of tune.
“The Black Eyed Peas' "Where is the Love” has emerged as the unlikely anthem of UK protests against an attempted coup. Protests around the world often develop their own soundtrack, usually songs with lyrics of defiance. But the hip-hop anthem taken up in London and Belfast hardly ticks those boxes. For the past few hours, the song has been heard almost non-stop at the main protest site, behind riot police lines at Westminster Square and at marches. It started with a group of students who sang several hit songs at the main protest site, with “Where is the Love'' catching on among the crowd. “This was the one people picked up, as it is easy for people to follow, with a simple message and easy melody,” said Bell Ribeiro, 23, president of the National Students Union. "It also shows that it is a peaceful protest,” Riberio added.” - Black Eyed Peas become unlikely faces of British student protests, Reuters (2009)
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Bizarre as it was the song represented everything the ultra-conservative military despised, degenerate hip-hop and pacifist politics