G20 Protests in London

The G20 summit (consisting in fact of 22 nations) was held at the ExCel centre in London's Docklands (which has parking for 4000 cars). The protests cost £7.5m to police, with an estimated 5000 protestors gathering outside the Bank of England and police erecting a "ring of steel" around the ExCel centre to prevent protestors entering the complex.

Sarkozy and Merkel (representing France and Germany) objected to the large fiscal stimuli propounded at the G20, stressing "red lines" needed to be drawn on remuneration (i.e. bankers' bonuses), banking transparency, hedge fund regulation and tax havens.

Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who succeeded Vladimir Putin, and Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, asked for more voting power for emerging economies. China floated the idea of a new global reserve currency based on IMF special drawing rights. Brazil's President Lula da Silva stated rich nations should accept responsibility for bringing about the crisis.

The summit lasted 7 hours, versus the 22-day meeting in 1944 at Bretton Woods, out of which the IMF and the current global financial system was born. It begins with a working breakfast for leaders, finance ministers and central bankers as well as a working lunch. Japan's PM, Taro Aso at the G20, was later replaced in September 2009, by Yukio Hatoyama.