Wish we were at the G20 – all kinds of excitement going on over there today, particularly outside the Bank of England. It started nicely with a tea party:

G20 protesters held a tea party outside the Bank of England today, kicking off demonstrations against the summit of world and financial leaders a day earlier than planned.

The group behind tomorrow’s G20 Meltdown protests sent Twitter messages urging demonstrators to meet at the Bank at 11am, bringing cake.

Around a dozen protesters gathered, spread out a picnic blanket, sipped tea and ate shortbread and cupcakes in a square in front of the bank.

One of the group, Michael Rainsbro, said: “We’ve to come to the Bank of England because it has presiding over an economic system that has given out Sir-Fred-[Goodwin]-style bonuses for years and years. We need a long-term change in our economy.”

The group also expressed a desire to “reclaim elevenses,” otherwise known as the right to take a few minutes out of your workday around eleven a.m. for tea and cookies, and I am with them on that, 100%. (What do you think I’m doing right now?)

Things got more exciting today, as the Bank of England got evacuated for a bomb threat (h/t to @MadameButcher as my heads-up), with FTAlphaville passing along this email sent by an overzealous security guard:

Dear all,

Please be advised that a suspect vehicle is located within the Bank area, explosives within the vehicle have been identified. The police are in attendance and will carry out a controlled removal of this device.

I will continue to update you on further developments.

Kind regards

As it turned out, apparently by “explosives” he meant “a leftover box of tea biscuits,” but it served to create a lot of mayhem. Protesters have been unceremoniously evicted from their HQ; rumormongers continue to report scattered power outages, and wags suggest the explosion was an uncontrolled one, in their balance sheet.

For those less versed in international politics, Guardian has provided a handy Q&A to what G20 is and isn’t, including answers to important questions like: Why are there more than 20 countries in the G20? How many different G’s are there, anyway? Who the hell invited Argentina? At which strip clubs might you find Kevin Rudd? … and more.