WeT_AhUiZoTe: “Stop the War” Demonstration in Manchester, UK, Sunday 24th June 2007

[sent by our good friend Joe,.. comment by Wet_Ahuizote]

On Sunday 24th June in Manchester, UK, Gordon Brown was crowned the Labour Party leader, without election. Though many were hoping for a challenge by the socialist candidate John McDonnell, the only leadership contender, he failed to secure the backing of 12.5% of all Labour MPs. This rule had previously been 5%, but was changed by New Labour under Brown and Blair, in their bid to shut down democracy in the Labour Party.

The broad alliance the “Stop the War coalition” was not going to let Brown take over the Party quietly however, and so thousands of people, including school children, common folk, asylum seekers and older folk, all descended on Manchester from across the country for a demonstration outside of the Labour Party’s event.

Our group went from East England, Cambridge, Bury St Edmunds, Hitchin, Norwich, Great Yarmouth etc., and we travelled across the country in a coach hired for the purpose. While journeying up to the Event, we watched the documentary “Granito de Arena” (“Grain of Sand”), which documents the movement of over 100,000 teachers, parents and students who have fought to defend Mexico’s public education system from the devastating impacts of economic globalisation.

This got us in the mood for the demo. On arrival the police were everywhere. We protestors met in a square, where the names of children and women murdered in Afghanistan and Iraq over the past year or so were being read out one by one. The procession began. The law of the land requires that we follow the police in an orderly fashion which we did so. There seems to be an internal dispute going on within the movement, between those who agree with passivity, and those who want to break such rules, to take direct action, which seems so necessary given the gravity of the violence and murder taking place in the name of Western Imperialism.

Gordon Brown did not come out of the Event when we stood outside, chanting. Neither did any other politician. Such is the nature of our ‘leaders’. They are too scared to walk among their fellow citizens. If a supposedly elected leader, in a supposedly democratic and free state, cannot walk among, or even address impromptu, his or her people, then that person or those people deserve not the title of leader. Besides how are we supposed to feel towards these characters anyway? While our brothers and sisters in Iraq and Afghanistan are being slaughtered by British troops (also our brothers and sisters), and on the orders of British politicians, how should we act?

Enjoy the video footage…this was not shown in the mainstream media, through radio on the day or newspapers the following day. The mainstream media here in England, as in Mexico and other countries, attempt to control what the public find out about…and succeed to a large degree. Even the Guardian newspaper, supposedly one-time a paper of the political left, did not mention the fact that 5-6000 people descended on Manchester for the protest. Instead they carry front-page stories about, for example, gays and the Church in Canada – who cares about that? All these types of stories are just concocted to divert attention from the real issues of the day; control of resources. Capitalist democracies – and their supposed free media – have proved time and again that they are incapable of functioning equitably. They are clearly in a state of decline now…socialism is the only way forward, otherwise more and more people will become radicalised as communication increasingly links us to common folk across the globe and we learn about the injustices ongoing. The biggest struggle appears to be to convince the majority of the public that socialism is not dead and gone, and that socialism does not mean USSR / Stalin, etc.

Joe hill

video,...

and this is a short version of the video 'granito de arena' referred to by Joe,..