Those with long memories will remember the Grosvenor Square demonstration in 1968. I was walking down Oxford Street, window shopping at the time, an innocent enough occupation. Unfortunately, I had the misfortune to be accompanied by my then husband, a journalist. He insisted on seeing where this excitable crowd that was pushing past us was heading. Ever the news hound.

We were quickly separated, I had not his desire to get to the front of the action; but nonetheless, I ended up spending several more hours than I wanted to in Grosvenor Square, doing my damnedest to stay out of the way of the mounted police sitting astride huge and frightened horses that were none too careful where they put their feet. I had a few bumps and bruises, nowt to write home about, mostly occasioned by the domino effect when someone next to me went flying.

I watched several people being substantively hit around the head for the crime of standing between the police and their quarry – usually someone who had tipped a helmet off a sweaty head and made off with it in the crowd. A helmet in your bedsit beat a traffic cone by at least 70 points. Their immediate neighbours paid a high price for this decorating fad.

We learnt afterwards that the ten foot high, or so they seemed, Marines, on the steps of the American Embassy had been quite prepared to shoot into the crowd had any of the more violent demonstrators managed to gain access to their ground. I didn’t doubt it for a moment.

Whilst I made the decision that this was the last demonstration I would ever allow myself to get caught up in, others were made of sterner stuff – or were they?

For demonstrations have come a long way since those heady days of the 60s – they are now the essential political prop; the viability of your cause measured by the number of noughts you manage to persuade the BBC to add to the estimate of those ‘attending’, and the footage broadcast that night of windows being kicked in.

Since the demonstrations have become so much more violent, you might imagine that the police have become ever more intransigent. Not a bit of it.

Yesterday, the Joint Committee on Human Rights was grilling Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Lynne Owens, on her plans to uphold the Human Rights of those planning to disrupt London demonstrate on behalf of the TUC against the possibility of any public sector employee losing their job. They don’t seem to have any objection to private sector employees losing their job so far as I can see.

You might think that the official Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights would have more pressing problems on their hands, what with hundreds of British Citizens still in Ghadaffi’s desert Hell Hole. But there they were earnestly grilling the Met on the Human Rights of Demonstrators.

‘Would there be Toilet Facilities for those so violent that they had to be contained within a police cordon?’ they asked. ‘Oh yes’, said Ms Owen, we will be bringing in Portaloos for the little darlings, with specially soft toilet paper after last year’s complaints, or words to that effect.

‘And what if they are thirsty’ asked the committee? We’ve ordered thousands of bottles of mineral water for them, quoth Ms Owen.

I quite expected her to detail plans to send out for MacDonalds, with Vegan option, special arrangements for diabetics, and Halal alternative…..

Instead she turned to her plans to ‘Tweet’ details of any violence to demonstrators using the official police CO11 Twitter account. Really! Word of mouth is so last year. Apparently this last is in response to the complaint of many students that they didn’t know where the action was and thus missed it got caught up in it by mistake – it will be eminently useful to those who unwittingly missed the chance to drop a Fire Extinguisher on Plod’s head.

The Civil Rights group ‘Liberty’ are to deploy 200 legally trained ‘observers’ and will report back t’Committee Chairman – shades of Ghanaian elections here. No doubt the Liberty website on-line shop will be able to sell you footage for your Youtube account the following day. The TUC have organised 500 coaches to make sure you arrive in comfort, and it has been arranged for a Saturday so that you don’t have to use up one of your precious quota of ‘sick days’.

There was no mention of disabled access to the riveting sport of kicking in a window, no mention of special facilities for the blind or deaf to receive voicemail messages telling them where to go to watch an unemployed hoodie attacking a policeman, no recreation areas to walk Guide Dogs, nor crèche if you wanted to dump your two year old temporarily, and absolutely no softly padded landing area planned for those who wished to swing from a flag ten foot up the Cenotaph.

Call themselves a Human Right’s Committee?   I am truly shocked.

Meanwhile, out in the Libyan desert….

John Leon March 4, 2011 at 07:58

Mac Merde dont do diabetic

Francis
Urquhart March 4, 2011 at 00:02

Of course, under my government demonstrations would be completely
unnecessary.

F.U.

TheNoseyMole
March 3, 2011 at 23:45

Anna, your decision to allow advertisements may have misfired, here in
Canada most of the advertisements are for Racoon Extermintors, heaven forbid.
Your site and the eloquent comments keep me sane on the bus home.
Moley

Livewire March 4, 2011 at 08:15

Every measure has a countermeasure. Expect topics on how the
exterminators warm the planet & lower the sperm count, then see the
buggers put their ads near it.
Even Subrosa has a naughty word in her
latest topic – it’s the End Of Days! – or at least the start of Fleshlight
ads on her blog…

Spartan March 3, 2011 at 21:03

Then maybe we should show them how it’s done or are we content with how the
648 MP’s are performing , Engineer?

Engineer March 3, 2011 at 21:25

I avoided marches and demos while I was at University because I had
better things to do, like earn a degree. Almost all the major marches I can
recall since have achieved not very much. Not my cup of tea anyway – I don’t
much like crowds. My ‘political activism’ such as it is, consists of posting
comments on other people’s blogs (thanks, Anna), which these days, probably
has more effect than writing to your MP.

As for the 648 MPs, some are out-and-out wrong-’uns, some are
sanctimonious hypocrites, some are mendacious, some are grasping
self-servers and some are genuinely trying to do good. Normal service,
really. The last administration was a prolonged disaster for the UK, this
one, whilst by no means perfect, is the epitomy of wisdom by comparison.

Tacitus March 3, 2011 at 19:01

Such obvious cynicism. Where has all the idealism gone? Have we all turned
so crabby that no-one is getting excited that at alast politics is starting to
get exzciting and once again involve our youth?

Are we not enthused that our youth are seeing the reality that perhaps
Citizen dave, the people’s toff isn’t perhaps as squeaky as he led us
believe?

Come on, give them a chance – let’s face it, they can’t bungle it any worse
than us oldies.

Engineer March 3, 2011 at 19:56

“Where has all the idealism gone?”

Answer 1 – In the words of Liam Byrne, “There’s no money left.”

Answer 2 – It flung a fire extinguisher off an office block, narrowly
missing Plod, and got locked up for it. It swung off the flag on the
Cenotaph, and disgusted the nation. It attacked public property all over
central London, causing yet another large bill for the taxpayer to pick up.
And those were the supposedly intelligent ones….

Tacitus
March 4, 2011 at 08:25

Oh come on! Don’t you remember the student sit ins during the 1960s? Or
the Anti-Apartheid riots in Swansea? We weren’t so squeaky clean either.
Sure there are some crazies out there, but the vast majority are
well-intentioned and angry and not without due cause.

As for the guy who climbed the flagpole? I remember a few instances of
demos where we burned the British flag, never mind climbing it – his
actions were pretty wimpy to things we used to get up to.

I’m not saying we were right – but I am saying we need to give them the
same space as we were given. Didn’t seem to do us any harm.

Cascadian March 3, 2011 at 22:31

Oh the irony! Tacitus believes the yoof should support the TUC demo.

Why would they do that? The TUC represents the well-heeled greybeard
(both sexes) unions, the public-sector do-nothing unions that resemble
geriatric homes and have about the same work output, nobody is retiring from
these life-long sinecures, you won’t find yoof employed by these unions.

But somehow I doubt that fact will deter the more excitable varieties of
Che admirers.

All together now:

The working class can kiss my arse,
I gotta teachers job at last.

(substitute any public-sector job title where “teacher” appears
above)

Tacitus
March 4, 2011 at 08:30

Such cynicism … and as a teacher I resent the fact you suggest I don’t
work. On average I do about 60 hours a week (sometimes more when there are
exams to mark) and many of my contemporaries in industry are earninbg at
least 25% more than me. I am not complaining, but please don’t say I don’t
work – not until you have tried spending a month in the classroom to see
how it feels.

As for the TUC being ‘well-heeled’. Sure the executive members may we
highly paid, but the vast majority of trade unionists who will be at that
demo will be ordinary working class folk (a number of who will be facing
redundancy).

Are they well-heeled? I don’t think so.

Don’t need no
educashun March 4, 2011 at 14:08

Education, Education, Education…

…and as a teacher…. “…earninbg….” “…may we highly paid…”

Perhaps you meant to put “earning” & “may be highly paid”.

Cascadian
March 4, 2011 at 18:50

Tacitus, you doth protest too much.

When I malign teachers, it is based on some experience, I have indeed
taught a bunch of unruly 18-22 year olds in a community college for a
couple of years. They were challenging but in the end my decision to
quit was based on the “could care less” attitude of the faculty who
regarded the “teaching” process as a sausage factory. This was in the
1980′s and the faculty’s primary motivation was to pass every student on
to the next year to ensure that student feedback was positive and
compensation increases assured. My attempt to fail obviously unprepared
students did not sit well with the faculty members.

I see very little difference in most “educators” role anywhere-as
corroborated by the multitudes of near-illiterate and near-innumerate
(as well as rude and socially awkward) yoof emanating from the
edyookayshunial system with multiple A-levels.

Might I point out that your contemporaries in the private sector may
well be earning 25% more, but it is doubtful their pension plan is
funded by the government, they are subject to termination for cause and
lets not forget that comparison of salaries must be adjusted for weeks
of actual work. An always contentious issue with teachers whose sense of
entitlement is highly developed.

So I will stick with my characterization of TUC members, they are
well-heeled greybeards, with a highly developed sense of entitlement,
bitterly clinging to their sinecures to ensure the yoof do not penetrate
their bastions. All the while demanding taxpayers pay increasing amounts
for decreasing output. This cannot continue indefinitely and somebody
has to check it, the task has fallen to the coalition who are proposing
miniscule cuts in relation to the size of the problem, indeed the
overall budget is expanding. Yet the TUC in it’s wisdom wants to
mobilize the gullible to the barricades, and certainly the Che-tendency
and anarchist-tendency yoof will respond, full of their own sense of
entitlement they will demand (and receive) text updates from the police,
free mineral water, and port-a-loos this time. I can certainly see the
day when their delicate psyches will demand teddy-bears and sippy cups
of warm milk-and the police will oblige.

I believe on closer inspection you will agree that I did NOT say
“don’t say I don’t work” I merely pointed out that the work output was
minimal in public sector unions.

Thank you for the compliment of calling me a cynic, after a lifetime
working in and around the public sector the title is well-deserved. You
will notice my posts are often as cynical about the coalition, faux
conservatives, the camoron ad many other subjects.

In this instance the TUC is being ridiculous and the police response
to them is farcical, I fail to see why a cynical response is
inappropriate.

Eleanor March 3, 2011 at 18:53

Charge them to get out, I say. Or for a belt around the ear from a Police
Truncheon. It makes no odds to me. I won’t be there.

What’s it for, by the way? As if it matters.

Cascadian March 3, 2011 at 18:40

And a suitable allowance for fixing up the royal roller when his hrh chucky
decides to blunder through on his way to the opera.

I do hope we see Charlie Gilmour out there with the rest of oppressed
masses.

Talwin March 3, 2011 at 17:25

They don’t need ‘observers’, legally trained or otherwise. I can give you
the post hoc summary now.

Demonstrators/protestors…democratic rights….party
atmosphere…..innocents…..one or two interlopers intent on causing trouble….all
others peaceful.

Police heavy handed….over-reacted……violent….insulting and abusive….out of
control….nazis……Commissioner should be sacked.

Well, something like that.

Oh, and Ed Miliband blaming the evil Tories for the unrest. ‘The economy’s
nothing to do with me mate’.

Jeremy Poynton
March 3, 2011 at 17:22

The country has gone bonkers. No doubt. How we unravel the thirteen years
of the Labour virus infecting the body politic and then everything else, I do
not know, but I do think we are FUBAR. There is a faint chance if the
Coalition do resolve the West Lothian question; weighed against that is the
fact the Labour inserted placemen and women in everything they could get their
hands on. That alone will take many years to purge. As must be done.

ReefKnot March 3, 2011 at 16:34

I was on the Grosvenor Square demo in my misguided youth – got a coach from
Uni along with the “Anarchists”. However, me and the mate I was with got
separated from the throng and ended up on the wrong i.e quiet side of the
Police line. There was no way we could get through to where the action was, so
we went for a burger and coke instead. Good day out really. Beers on the coach
on the way back, but we never let on.

Incidentally, I’ve always thought it would be a good idea to have “demo
/marching areas”, e.g in Northern Ireland you could build motorway style
roadways with turning circles at each end out in the countryside somewhere.
Charge for parking and sell licences for hot-dog stalls etc so it could be
self-financing. One day the Orange Men could march up and down chanting away
and carrying their banners, the next day it could be the Republicans carrying
their tricolors. You could even set up stalls making on-the-spot banners e.g ”
No More _____” Only a fiver a letter.

JuliaM March 3,
2011 at 16:20

Given the uproar on police blogs and forums over Teresa May’s insistence
that they are not immune from the coming budget crisis, I wonder if we’ll see
an epidemic of ‘Blue flu’ in time for the 26th?

Perhaps those Marines could be persuaded to come out of retirement…

Joe Public March 3, 2011 at 15:49

Perhaps we could reduce this country’s National Debt by making it a paying
‘spectator sport’.

Spectators could be sold seating; a grandstand could be erected for the
rich corporate bigwigs and free-loading JCHR members.

Catering facilities would add to the income.

Ryanair-style pay-toilets would provide added relief for many. [Michael
O’Leary could even trial the latest money-making wheeze of allowing free entry
(to encourage the punters), but charging a fortune for the bog-rolls.]

With practice & suitable timing, it may one day become an Olympic
Event.

Smoking
Hot March 3, 2011 at 15:47

So do we ignore the innocents caught up in kettling? l was at a meeting
near the G20 demo at the Bank of England. Many innocents were caught up in
that, office workers, tourists etc. No water, no food and no toilet
facilities, you went thirstly and ‘went’ where you stood because you weren’t
allowed to leave no matter who you were.

ln the meantime still in Tunisia and Egypt… but not forgetting Burma,
Yemen, Columbia, Somalia, Mexico ……….

Anna
Raccoon March 3, 2011 at 16:00

“No water, no food and no toilet facilities, you went thirsty and ‘went’
where you stood because you weren’t allowed to leave no matter who you
were.”

– so they do still do it Grosvenor Square style then?

JuliaM March 3,
2011 at 16:23

The fact that it’s on a Saturday should reduce the number of (at least
9-5) workers. Anyone who works in London at the weekend should be well
aware, and stay clear where possible.

That leaves only tourists. Not sure what could be done for them?

AnnaNonAMoose
March 4, 2011 at 05:12

Maybe beside the point, but I wonder it’s being done on a weekend
because that allows for overtime pay for the police. I mean the lack of
spontaneity makes it almost sound like a planned event, the likes of a
carnival, or a circus. So maybe police overtime was taken into
consideration or negotiated thinking that would help make them go easier
on the festival participants and feel more welcome.

Gildas theMonk
March 3, 2011 at 15:34

Fascinating and acerbic in equal measure!