Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2003 18:11:20 +0000
From: keir <keir-AT-chumba.demon.co.uk>
Subject:  AUT: demos in UK


>
>Any reactions on the streets or elsewhere that other list members 
>care to report?
>
>Steve

Well I've just got back from an afternoon demo in Leeds, UK. About a 
thousand people I would say, quite good for a more or less 
spontaneous demo. The atmosphere on it was up beat, not sombre but 
pretty raucous. Very loud, lots of chanting, spontaneous sit downs 
then pushing past the police to march on. In fact the police didn't 
seem to know what to do. When the demo first spilled onto the street 
there was a sit down and the police issued a section 60 order on bits 
of paper declaring that we must disperse then when people decided to 
march the police had to run to get to the front of the march to lead 
it. It was quite funny. I think the atmosphere on the march can be 
explained by the unusually high number of young people, lots of 
school kids, many in school uniform who'd bunked off school to 
demonstrate. Over the last few days school kids have taken the lead 
in walking out of school and self organising demonstrations right 
across Britain. Don't know what it means and it's hard to gauge how 
widespread it is but it's something no one would have predicted. When 
the kids are united and all that.

The day started with about 40 people from the direct action scene 
blockading the busiest traffic junction in Leeds and holding it for 
about 3 hours right through rush hour causing complete grid lock 
around the city. They managed it by just d-locking their arms 
together through plastic tubing, the police took a long time to deal 
with it. I've heard a bit of grumbling about the disruption today but 
it certainly wasn't just another day and IMHO it acts as a disruption 
to the otherwise seamless media shift into action shots and away from 
discussions of right or wrong.

There's another demo in Leeds planned for 6pm which promises to be 
bigger. This situation is being replicated around the country. The 
anti-war movement doesn't seem to be declining and a spontaneous 
eruption of feeling by young people and school kids seems to be 
escalating it. We've already won a major victory by stripping the fig 
leaf of democracy away from the war. The anti-war movement needs to 
continue to stop pro-war triumphalism snatching that victory away 
from us.

Ok enough from me but it's always good to let off a little steam on a 
day like this.


Keir


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