I went along to the march on Saturday, not because I think it will
help, but because I'd have felt bad if I hadn't.
I was with several friends; rather than start on Park Lane, we
arrived at Piccadilly Circus and walked down to the top of St James's
Street.
After about 90 minutes, we got into a gap and moved off down St
James's Street. (A friend's group was still in Park Lane; after
several hours, they went round to The Mall by other routes, and ended
up in St James's Park.)
Trafalgar Square was an informal break-point.
We continued down Whitehall to Parliament Square.
The only police I saw were a few right on the edges, monitoring the
road closures. Absolutely nothing like the anti-war march in 2003,
where they were turned out in quite large numbers (though very
friendly). There were no barriers this time either, and people were
joining and leaving wherever they felt like it.
A pint of
Broken Dream
seemed like an appropriate way to finish the day.
I don't think this will have any direct effect. It may remind some MPs
that there are votes to be had in not blindly following the government
line, but the party system makes it extremely difficult for an MP to
act on principle even if they have the inclination to do so.
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