Unite The Kingdom & Rejoin Europe: Though I’m not overlaying as many protests as I used to I haven’t solely given up overlaying them. However my precedence in the meanwhile is in digitising as a lot as potential of the images which I took on movie earlier than I moved to digital round 20 years in the past.
I believe these pictures are a historic report of these instances displaying London within the latter years of the twentieth century. You’ll be able to see round 35,000 of them already on Flickr.
But additionally I’m feeling my age, and get drained far more shortly; after spending two or three hours overlaying occasions I’m able to go residence. However nonetheless most weeks I attempt to get out not less than in the future overlaying protests, normally on Saturdays.
In fact over the previous 12 months most of the protests I’ve photographed have been concerning the persevering with occasions in Palestine. However final Saturday there have been just a few small occasions associated to this happening – the following massive protest comes this Saturday, fifth October, beginning at 12 midday in Russell Sq.. Sadly I’ll miss that one as I’m away at a convention.
I lined two occasions on Saturday twenty eighth September, each sadly beginning at midday, however one in Trafalgar Sq. and the opposite on Park Lane, round 2 kilometers to the west. Thankfully the journey by tube between the 2 is pretty quick.
I started taking footage in Trafalgar Sq., the place Stand Up To Racism had known as on its supporters to return to oppose a threatened far proper racist protest which was to happen there.
The far proper group was calling itself “Unite the Kingdom”, impressed by that phrase utilized by ‘Tommy Robinson’ at his protest in Trafalgar Sq. in July. He and his followers incite hate in opposition to migrants and asylum seekers, and their racist and Islamophobic rants had been what led to the extreextreme proper, right-wing, me proper riots in Stockport, Birmingham, Hull and elsewhere – which tried to burn down buildings housing migrants.
There have been a couple of brief speeches and by the point I left Trafalgar Sq. half an hour or so later there have been maybe somewhat below 2 hundred individuals who had come to oppose the acute proper, with banners from numerous elements of London and some from numerous organisations together with GiK-DER Refugee Staff Cultural Affiliation, and extra had been nonetheless arriving. However there was no signal of the acute proper protest.
The third annual grassroots Nationwide Rejoin March was a somewhat bigger occasion, with a number of thousand folks crowding across the space near the Hilton Resort, and I had time to take some footage and speak to some of the protesters earlier than the march set off.
There may be now a pretty massive proportion – virtually 50% of us – within the nation who realise that leaving Europe was an enormous mistake, whereas help for staying out is below 35%, and opinion polls in 2023 confirmed a massively totally different end result – round 70% to fifteen% – if a referendum was held then.Regardless of this there now appears little or no probability that we’d return into membership of the EU within the foreseeable future.
In England & Wales the Inexperienced Celebration, Plaid Cymru, and the Liberal Democrats wish to rejoin, however the two main events and Reform are dedicated to remain out. It might nicely have contributed to the success loved by the Lib-Dems within the current common election, and there appeared to be a robust presence on the protest from a few of their stronger areas.
One of many most important themes within the protest was that the query of rejoining Europe is the ‘elephant within the room’ of present British politics. Each Labour and Tories appear to imagine that if the got here out in favour of it will give the opposite social gathering an enormous enhance.
This march appeared smaller than the earlier two annual marches and it took lower than ten minutes for the entire physique of marchers to cross me as I stood on the road nook earlier than dashing again to the tube to return to Trafalgar Sq..
After I arrived there round a dozen ‘Unite The Kingdom’ protesters had arrived. Police had fashioned two strains on the North Terrace maybe 50 yards aside separating them from the Stand As much as Racism supporters. Most of those had left with their banners leaving solely a small fraction – nonetheless significantly outnumbering the racists. However police now severely outnumbered each teams.
I took a couple of footage, however couldn’t actually be bothered – and it exhibits. However I believe we’re more likely to see a lot bigger numbers at future excessive right-wing protests than this disorganised damp squib.
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Tags: ‘elephant within the room, Brexit, Europe, excessive proper, fascism, Gik-der, Islamophbia, Islamophobic, leaving Europe, London, march, Nationwide Rejoin March, Park Lane, peter Marshall, police, racism, racist, rejoin, Rejoin Europe, riots, Tommy Robinson, Trafalgar Sq., Unite The Kingdom, violence
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