I took the train into London yesterday to report on the march of the Stoppers for Harry’s Place. Jackie D accompanied me and was accredited as an official Harry’s Place photographer for the day.
The first thing to note was the turnout. The police estimated 25,000 though the Stoppers said 100,000. If we take the Stoppers at their word that’s only 5-10% of last February’s march. If we believe the police it’s nearer 2%.
Whatever the true figure it should give some pause for thought to leading Stoppers and Respectoids who have been boasting that they are leading a mighty force which will give Tony Blair a bloody nose in the summer elections. A 98% loss over the period of a year is pretty impressive going. If they continue to lose support at this rate things are looking grim for their election campaign.
The second thing I noticed was the fact that the marchers were drawn almost exclusively from the usual suspects. Trots, Greens, Anarchists etc. The broader ranks of the middle classes gave the demo a miss this time leaving the SWP to make up the numbers.
It was a very subdued affair mostly. A lot of the marchers appeared to be going through the motions and shuffled along dispiritedly. I suppose going on a march organised by Stop the War when the war has come and gone contributed to the gloom amongst large sections of march. The wind and rain probably didn’t help either.
Jackie noticed that the comparisons between Bush, Blair and the Nazi’s weren’t just made by some of the marchers: they were flashed on the big screen on Nelson’s column, over and over, by the organisers of the demo — unless over the weekend they’ve changed the official design of the American flag to include swastikas.
She also loved the sophistication of the popular chant (“Bush, fuck you,
your daddy too, and your boom-boom!”) to the tune of Daphne & Celeste’s
“Ugly”.
Continue onwards to view the photographs.
Update: Michael J Totten has got more of the same at his place.
Are you sure that’s right ? I thought Bush was the Number One Terrorist…
…and Unilateral Declarer of Independence.
Unlike the Guantanamo heroes. Who are innocent.
Neocons. Get your filthy hands off Nepal…
…and Africa…
…and the NHS…
More “nuanced” political comment from this fellow.
“No war for capital”…but
please do give generously to the man with the donations bucket
“Stop the Invasion of
Iraq”…Hmm, must be trying to use up all those left-over placards from last
year.
A brisk trade in anti-capitalist articles was done, with the usual bank accounts reaping the benefit.
Hormones are a good excuse for this marcher. Probably the best we saw all day.
Jackie loved the hat on the guy carrying the WRP Young Socialist banner. Since when did teenagers wear tweed hats with feathers in them she wanted to know.
Unfortunately the mirth over the hat meant she didn’t notice the camera mic boom in this photo which ended her career as a photographer temporarily.
