Marching against war and for toilet
“What democracy looks like.” — Tim Robbins
Yesterday millions of people around the globe protested against the war, in 603 cities as diverse as Moscow, Kiev, Amsterdam, Budapest, Lyon, Marseilles, Sofia, Brussels, Stuttgart, Toulouse, Thessaloniki, Warsaw, Bern, Paris, Mostar and Copenhagen. As the Independent put it, a groundswell of dissent encircles the globe. Some of the biggest demos included:
- 3 million people in Rome;
- 350,000 in Berlin;
- 1.3 million in Barcelona, 200,000 in Seville and 600,000 in Madrid;
- 3,000 Jews and Arabs in Tel Aviv;
- 1 million in Sydney;
- 60,000 in Oslo;
- 25,000 in Glasgow;
- 100,000 in New York;
- and my favourite, 600 people in Lerwick in the Shetland Islands!
I went on the anti-war demo in London, which turned out to be the largest political gathering in British history! My plans to meet up with friends went a bit pear-shaped at the last minute, so I ended up going on my own (given how cold it was, I was tempted to stay in in front of the fire and watch the footie and rugby, but I knew I’d just feel guilty if I did).
I hurried to the starting point (one of two) from London Bridge an hour-and-a-half after it was meant to start, fearing I might be too late. Yeah, right… I popped up onto the Embankment at Blackfriars and suddenly found myself in the midst of a mass of people. It was still some way from the official start point, but there were thousands of people queueing up to join the march. The queue extended back across Blackfriars Bridge, and all the way along the south bank to Waterloo Bridge, which had been closed by police. Have to say, I was really amazed.
I did take my cheapo digital camera with me, but unfortunately I didn’t have time to charge it up, and it conked out after a couple of pictures.
The march consisted of a complete cross-section of society: parents with kids in pushchairs, little old ladies, posh totty, beardy liberals, crusties, blacks, whites, Asians, anarchists, trade unionists, Muslims, Christians, atheists, war veterans, country gents, students, middle-aged couples — every type of person you could imagine was represented. I found myself near a group of drummers, which helped take my mind off the biting cold as we slowly shuffled west along the Embankment.
Progress was slow because of the sheer volume of people, but it didn’t matter with it being such a carnival atmosphere (people dressed as clowns, Jedi Knights, drunken soldiers in gas masks; musical instruments of all descriptions, amusing chants etc.). There were some great home-made banners and placards too — “Make tea not war”, “Middle England against war in the Middle East”, “Notts County Supporters Say Make Love Not War (And a Home Win against Bristol would be Nice)”, a drawing of someone’s crotch, complete with stuck-on pubic hair, below the words “The only bush I trust is mine”, and my favourite, inspired by the black and white Golf Sale signs of Oxford Street, was “Gulf Sale”.
It took nearly two hours to reach Parliament, and from there we marched up Whitehall, past Downing Street (shame Tony wasn’t there — think he’d have ended up swinging from a tree), to Trafalgar Square. As we made our way towards Piccadilly Circus to meet up with the other section of the march (for people arriving from the North), things started getting a little squashed, so a lot of people tried to find shortcuts down side streets. I managed to grab one last photo.
By the time we were past the Ritz and heading past Green Park, I found myself surrounded by Lib Dems, Sussex Student Union and “Dykes in Black”. I opted to temporarily align myself with the students. I eventually reached Hyde Park in time to hear the end of Jesse Jackson’s speech (having taken 3 hours to walk the 3 and a half mile route).
Shame I missed the other speakers — seems like they had some good stuff to say:
“[America is] a country run by a bunch of criminal lunatics with Tony Blair as a hired Christian thug.” — Harold Pinter
“What’s inspiring is it is a genuine, spontaneous movement of all politics, nations and religions meeting on a conviction that war is morally reprehensible without being told so and in the face of intense propaganda” — Tim Robbins
“I would rather be eating cheese and reading Sartre on the banks of the Seine any day than eat popcorn with a bible-bashing fundamentalist Republican from Texas.” — George Galloway MP
“Why listen to President Bush rather than the voices of British people. Why not listen to the voices of reason?” — Bianca Jagger
“We are here to tell Tony Blair openly that if one country needs a regime change it’s Britain.” — Tariq Ali
“Theirs is a position now that if a country has a lot of people killed from poverty and military dictatorship, if that number is smaller than that killed by war then the war is OK. That, to me, is totally illogical… We will lose this war. It will be the best recruiting campaign for terrorists that there could be. They will hate us even more.” — Mo Mowlam
The place was absolutely heaving with people, and I had no idea where the stage was, so decided to call it a day. I’d started off marching against war, and ended up marching for toilet. I was a little disappointed not to see any of the celebs that were meant to be on the march (Kate Moss, Tim Robbins, Alan Rickman, Chris Eubank to name but a few), but I guess they probably get to set off at the front in those little electric golf buggies.
What an absolutely staggering day it was though. The police say at least 750,000 people were on the march, and the organizers say 2 million attended Hyde Park; given that the police figures only count those on the official route — and I know loads of people took alternative routes because of the overcrowding — and not those going directly to the park, I’d guess that the true figure was at least 1.5 million people. I don’t think for one moment it’ll make any difference to Blair, but at least everyone else can see the strength of feeling against his poodling-up attitude to Bush.
Returning home, I heard Blair’s response to the public’s opposition to war: “I do not seek unpopularity as a badge of honour, but sometimes it is the price of leadership and the cost of conviction.” Er, excuse me, but isn’t he meant to be the public’s representative, not our leader? He’s starting to think he’s Ming the fucking Merciless! That shit is heading for such a fall.
As Mary Riddell says in her article in today’s Observer, “Blair’s natural supporters and opponents have registered their opposition, and seen it spurned. As they get more strident, he digs harder. The hole in democracy grows more cavernous by the day.”
- Stop the War
- Tick-Tock
