{"article":{"id":11152,"heading":"Brits turn out for social justice\/peace rally","author":"Anna Bragga for the Guardian","created":"2001-10-03 02:34:42","modified":"2005-08-15 00:40:03","last_modified":"Mon, 15 Aug 2005 07:40:03","article":"","contact":"","link":"http:\/\/politics.guardian.co.uk\/labour2001\/story\/0,1414,561322,00.html","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","summary":"Despite reports of a low turnout, Anna Bragga, the Green party's spokeswoman on globalisation, finds that  thousands of activists still have an appetite for peaceful protest","numcomment":1,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2001\/10\/protest2.jpg","filesize":"17.4 kibibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2001\/10\/11152.php","image":{"original":"\/uploads\/2001\/10\/protest2.jpg","small":"\/uploads\/2001\/10\/protest2.jpgthumb.jpg"}},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":11153,"heading":"the story","article":"                          As my Green party companion and I sped along the motorway\r\n                          to Brighton, we overtook coaches decorated with posters saying\r\n                          \"Stop The War\" and \"Globalise Resistance\". Four had been\r\n                          hauled over on to the hard shoulder by the police, increasing my\r\n                          anxiety of overzealous, heavy-handed policing on the\r\n                          demonstrations.\r\n\r\n                          We easily spotted the Level, the grassy square serving as an\r\n                          assembly point for the march, because it was dotted with\r\n                          clusters of banner-waving protesters and a makeshift stage. \r\n\r\n                          It was about a quarter past twelve and I was pleased to see a\r\n                          number of familiar faces: Greens from around the country;\r\n                          Socialist Alliance activists I recognised from the general\r\n                          election; Globalise Resistance organisers - and even an\r\n                          Indymedia journalist whom I'd met in Genoa.\r\n\r\n                          I could hardly believe my eyes when I caught sight of a\r\n                          black-gowned vicar, complete with gas mask, sweeping up\r\n                          towards me. Then I recognised him. It was Hector Christy, a\r\n                          dedicated member of a group fighting for the interests of\r\n                          small-scale farmers in the West Country.\r\n\r\n                          The cold rain could not deter the thousands of people who\r\n                          converged on the Level. The local Labour-run council had made\r\n                          it clear that no music would be permitted, but we didn't need any\r\n                          entertainment other than our speakers. \r\n\r\n                          The line-up was international and their words drew rapturous\r\n                          applause: CND chair Carol Naughton, Luca Casarini from the\r\n                          Italian anti-globalisation group Ya Basta!; Bolivian activist Oscar\r\n                          Olivera who spoke about his town's successful fight to win back\r\n                          their water supply from private ownership, Dave Nellist from the\r\n                          Socialist Alliance, and two elected Green party representatives -\r\n                          south-east regional MEP Caroline Lucas and Brighton councillor\r\n                          Keith Taylor.\r\n\r\n                          At around 2pm, jeans sodden and shivering under my umbrella, I\r\n                          assembled with fellow Greens for the march to the Labour party\r\n                          conference centre. We looked around nervously at the heavy\r\n                          police presence and wondered why it was taking so long to get\r\n                          moving. Drum beats and chanting created a tribal atmosphere.\r\n                          At last, banners and placards were hoisted aloft and we were off!\r\n\r\n                          It had been agreed that the main theme of the demonstration\r\n                          would be the privatisation of public services and this was\r\n                          reflected in most of the publicity - leaflets, posters and websites.\r\n                          But the events of September 11 and the subsequent gung-ho\r\n                          rhetoric coming from George Bush and Tony Blair had angered a\r\n                          lot of people and attracted a vociferous peace contingent. \r\n\r\n                          A united front against war superseded the issue of privatisation.\r\n                          The mood was ebullient but determined. Pensioners and young\r\n                          children joined the marchers chanting slogans such as: \"They\r\n                          say drop the bomb, we say drop the debt\", \"They want warfare,\r\n                          we want welfare\", \"Stop this racist war, organise and agitate\",\r\n                          and \"Who let the dogs out? Bush! Bush! Bush!\"\r\n\r\n                          The police weren't taking any chances and quickly began\r\n                          picking out anyone they thought looked like a potential trouble\r\n                          maker. Seven people were arrested including a couple pulled in\r\n                          for wearing crash helmets; others got reined in for wearing\r\n                          padded clothing and one for wearing a mask. \r\n\r\n                          The Green party home affairs spokesperson and civil rights\r\n                          lawyer, Hugo Charlton, commented: \"We understand a certain\r\n                          amount of nervousness, but feel it was over-policed. And whilst\r\n                          police are entitled to ask people to remove masks, the\r\n                          subsequent seven arrests were unlawful because they [those\r\n                          arrested] had uncovered their faces.\r\n\r\n                          He added: \"Athough those arrests were somewhat provocative,\r\n                          the crowd was very disciplined and well stewarded. It is\r\n                          important that the police do not use the fear of terrorism to\r\n                          impose restrictions on protest and movement that are not really\r\n                          justified.\"\r\n\r\n                          We passed the famous Brighton pavilion and turned the corner\r\n                          towards the seafront. The number on the march became\r\n                          apparent as we lined-up at the conference centre. Estimates\r\n                          ranged from 4,000-6,000 - far in excess of the 1,000 the BBC\r\n                          reported later that evening. \r\n\r\n                          The trail of banners and placards conveyed messages that most\r\n                          of the mainstream media ignored: Hands Off Afghanistan, Stop\r\n                          The War, WTO - World Terrorist Organisation, Defend Council\r\n                          Housing, No PFI, Democracy and Public Services, A Better\r\n                          World Is Possible. This was quite clearly a red, green and white\r\n                          alliance - the white banners representing peace activists.\r\n\r\n                          The police presence felt oppressive and unnecessary given the\r\n                          well-organised nature of the demonstration and discipline of the\r\n                          participants, and prompted one trade unionist to remark: \"We\r\n                          never had this kind of police presence on our trade union\r\n                          marches.\"\r\n\r\n                          We all hoped that violence wouldn't tarnish what had so far been\r\n                          an enormously successful day. The anarchist groups we had\r\n                          feared would bring chaos failed to materialise. This could explain\r\n                          why neither friends nor family saw any TV coverage of the rally\r\n                          or march that day. \r\n\r\n                          This forces one to conclude that the absence of violence makes\r\n                          a mass demonstration not newsworthy. ","author":". . .","parent_id":11152,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2001-10-03 02:37:45","modified":"2001-10-03 03:00:03","fileurl":""}]}