March for the Alternative
Unbelievably, that was my first ever protest since I reached voting age. And what a way for start. Babes in arms and children with whistles, firemenandwomen and barristers, librarians and nurses, accountants and drummers marching, wheelchairing and in one case, even tanking for 4, 5 hours through the corridors of power of the capital. Many first-timers, not really knowing how to chant, but knowing they had something to chant for.
When you look around at any time, and find at least one banner to disagree with, then you realise that a true cross-section of the population is here, to be heard, adversaries allied against a government who has declared war on communities, while having the audacity to try to co-opt the phrase "Big Society" to mean Victorian values:- namely wealth is equated to virtue, and everyone else is irrelevant fodder.
It gave me a bubble of hope, to balance feeling of impotent terror that has built from the moment Condomhead first stepped into office. I want to be wrong about my pessimism, and I've found a shard of resolve that I will try my hardest personally, because every person can, and does make a difference. The business adage that no-one is irreplacable, is exactly, 100% wrong. Everyone is irreplacable. And communal assets that make us the country we are, such as libraries, drama, Citizens Advice and the NHS took decades to build, but will only take a few months to destroy.
When you look around at any time, and find at least one banner to disagree with, then you realise that a true cross-section of the population is here, to be heard, adversaries allied against a government who has declared war on communities, while having the audacity to try to co-opt the phrase "Big Society" to mean Victorian values:- namely wealth is equated to virtue, and everyone else is irrelevant fodder.
It gave me a bubble of hope, to balance feeling of impotent terror that has built from the moment Condomhead first stepped into office. I want to be wrong about my pessimism, and I've found a shard of resolve that I will try my hardest personally, because every person can, and does make a difference. The business adage that no-one is irreplacable, is exactly, 100% wrong. Everyone is irreplacable. And communal assets that make us the country we are, such as libraries, drama, Citizens Advice and the NHS took decades to build, but will only take a few months to destroy.