“President” Isaac Herzog last night entered his hotel – the Intercontinental Park Lane – through a service door and kitchens.
He did not transit any of the public areas of the hotel, where I was stationed disguised as an elderly Scottish drunk at the bar. I carried out this role with great dedication. 
It also allowed me to wander around the basement areas as a well-spoken elderly Scottish gentleman, slightly befuddled and looking for the toilet. Finding no end of lurking policemen – who were all very helpful – I was able to confirm this was indeed where Herzog was staying and a demonstration was whistled up.
Watch| Activists protested in front of the hotel where Israeli President Isaac Herzog is staying in London, demanding his arrest for his role in crimes against the Palestinian people.#Israel pic.twitter.com/p3dznsgcvm
— Al-Jarmaq News (@Aljarmaqnetnews) September 10, 2025
The demonstration was very loud and effective inside the hotel and definitely well worth doing again. The police attempted to move the demonstration away under the Public Order Act.
Greta Thunberg was acquitted last year in exactly these circumstances when charged for protesting outside this exact same hotel. The magistrate ruled that police instructions to move on were “unlawful”. That is worth remembering for the next couple of nights.
I had dashed down from Edinburgh, literally just dropping everything and heading to the station, on hearing that Herzog’s visit was starting a couple of days earlier than expected. I attended the PSC demonstration outside Downing St. Frankly it was disappointingly small – not much more than one person for every mile I had covered to get there.
The change of date, short notice and a tube strike all contributed, but I do hope protest will grow during Herzog’s three day visit. Be inspired by this precedent:
In 1848-9, Hapsburg General Julius von Haynau crushed uprisings in Hungary and in Brescia with extreme force. In Brescia about 1,000 were killed, both revolutionaries and civilians, including women and children, with widespread rape, floggings and executions.
In Hungary about 2,000 revolutionaries were killed across four “battles” and a slightly larger number of civilians were massacred, again with widespread rape, flogging and looting.
In 1850 Haynau was on a private visit to London and touring the Barclay and Perkins brewery in Southwark. He was recognised by some draymen who pelted him with refuse and chased him from the brewery, where a larger crowd joined in.
Eventually Haynau took refuge in the George Inn on Borough High Street, where he hid either in a waste bin or under a bed (accounts differ). Eventually he was rescued by the police but nobody was arrested.
Generations of schoolchildren – myself included – were taught that the Haynau incident was something to be proud of and an example of how foreign “tyrants” should be treated in London. The government of Prime Minister Lord John Russell – grandfather of Bertrand Russell – refused to prosecute the draymen, to the fury of the Austrian government.
Herzog is of course actively participating in a Genocide far worse than anything Haynau did, and was directly quoted by the ICJ as indicating intent of genocide.
Starmer is meeting Herzog today for the second time since the ICJ cited Herzog as showing intent of Genocide, and since Herzog signed bombs to drop on Gaza.
There is no diplomacy being pursued on this visit. Nor was it initiated by Starmer. It is the Israelis emphasising their control of the British Establishment, and demonstrating that they can do what they wish – commit genocide, bomb Qatar, bomb Tunisia, and much more. It is simply a visit to underline who is the boss, and that we can do nothing about it.
Let us summon the symbol of the draymen of the Barclay and Perkins brewery. It is the people, not Starmer and his corrupt, grasping clowns, who embody moral conscience.
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Nice one Craig. Hope the fcuker ends up in the garbage where he belongs.
Boy, how far have we as a nation advanced socially and morally since the dark depraved days of 175 years ago.
Thank you once again Mr Murray.
“There is no diplomacy being pursued on this visit. Nor was it initiated by Starmer. It is the Israelis emphasising their control of the British Establishment, and demonstrating that they can do what they wish – commit genocide, bomb Qatar, bomb Tunisia, and much more. It is simply a visit to underline who is the boss … ”
If this is correct, and I have no reason to doubt it, then will Jeremy Corbyn’s ‘Your Party’ be able to acknowledge it, and, if so, what would they propose to do about it?
“He did not transit any of the public areas of the hotel, where I was stationed disguised as an elderly Scottish drunk at the bar.” Hey Craig, is this a part for which you have some previous rehearsals?
Great work. We need you more than ever!
I’m wondering what happened to this “the UK will recognise the state of Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly in September unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a Two State Solution.”
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-words-on-gaza-29-july-2025
Summon the courage of the Nepalese more like.
£100 worth of whisky sounds expensive. Was it worth it, just to confirm his hotel, if you already knew? I suspect most of the demonstrators were local.
Anyway I’ve let my MP know about the photograph you’ve provided of Israel’s President signing bombs to be dropped on civilians, and that we shouldn’t connive at crimes aganst humanity.
We didn’t already know, we had a tip-off we were unsure if we could trust.
‘ In an unusually tough-worded speech, von der Leyen denounced a “man made famine” in Gaza and “a clear attempt” by Israel to “undermine the two state solution”. But she also called Europe’s inability to find a response to Israel’s actions “painful”.
France is ending all payments to Israel.
Euronews
And from Ukraine
‘ On the night of 10 September, Russia carried out a massive strike against Ukraine: around 415 drones and more than 40 missiles targeted 15 regions.
In the Khmelnytskyi region, a missile hit a sewing workshop, leaving several people injured. In the Zhytomyr region, one civilian was killed.
But this attack also crossed a new line. At least eight Iranian-made Shahed drones violated Polish – NATO – airspace. This was not a lone incident, but a coordinated incursion by strike UAVs aimed towards Poland.
Delays in sanctions and security decisions only embolden Russia. Russia must feel that its war cannot be expanded and must be brought to an end.’
Hey ho – way to go
This type of vist is only made possible because the ICC did – somehow – not include Herzog in the arrest warrant against the israelis, still Herzog was the person that claimed that there are “no innocents in Gaza” just days after october 7 and he is of course part of the very regime that conduct the genocide. It seems that ICC by design exlcuded Herzog so he could keep traveling around the world.
A citizen’s arrest would be nice.
Please watch your health Craig. According to Google A1 “Drinking four Lagavulin double whiskeys (assuming a double is 2 oz) would likely result in heavy intoxication, potentially reaching or exceeding a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.16% to 0.20% or higher, depending on factors like your weight and metabolism. This level of intoxication is well beyond being drunk, putting you at a significant risk of alcohol poisoning and impaired function.”
Och, I was just starting!
I’ll Hic! to that.
Anecdotal, but I knew someone who drank a bottle of single malt a week and he lived to a ripe old age.
As far as liqueurs go, more of a limoncello devotee myself.
In what capacity did Blair take part in discussions to displace the 2 million population of Gaza, under the so-called ‘Trump Riviera’ plans? If involved as a private citizen, isn’t he in direct violation of UK govt policy, i.e. a two-state solution – a Palestinian state, which along with the West Bank includes Gaza. If acting in some official envoy role, on behalf of the Starmer govt, shouldn’t we know that too?
I find it shocking that they charged you 13.5% service charge and then expected a tip !
Good undercover work Craig, I hope you are feeling ok after the in-the-line-of-duty indulgence. Wonder where Herzog and Starmer are meeting? Surely not in a laundry basket! Hope Herzog gets thoroughly intimidated on his ride to meet with Starmer. Can you call the police to alert them to the fact that the subject of an international arrest warrant is loose in London!?!? Just making it known that you want them to do their job. Make a change for them, rather than arresting placard holders opposing the genocide in Gaza!
Yesterday evening’s protest outside Downing Street seems quite well attended according to (perhaps later) this:
https://x.com/ShabbirLakha/status/1965484144634589257
Two protests planned this evening.
One at 5:30 outside Chatham House, St James Square, where Herzog is expected to speak, and a follow-up at 7:00 outside Downing Street where he is expected to have a meeting with Starmer.
“Bring your pots and pans.”:
https://www.stopwar.org.uk/
Oh shit! You mean Herzog wasn’t included in the ICC arrest warrant!!!!