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Around 35 thousand people packed into central London on
Saturday, March 28 in a militant protest at the upcoming G20 summit. Under the
slogan of "Put people first" the demonstrators aimed to bring world leaders to
heel over the economic crisis, which were to be followed in a further two
events today and tomorrow.
Claire Melamed, who spoke on
behalf of the charity group Action Aid, said: "What was a financial crisis
is turning into a humanitarian catastrophe. Every day we are hearing stories
from around the world of how this crisis is throwing development into
reverse."
Every major British trade union was present, with some
accompanied by their own marching bands. A large variety of left groups were
also on the move, with Socialist Appeal comrades marching en bloc
towards the front of the procession.
Trade union contingents from Italy,
Slovakia, France and Germany were also in attendance, with militant pro-worker
slogans being the order of the day. Matching events took place in Europe, with
protesters hitting the streets in Berlin and Frankfurt in sizeable numbers.
The working class has been reeling from the effects of the
recession, with unemployment levels in Britain expected to reach 3 million by
the end of the year. Many formerly apathetic strata have been galvanised into
action as the world economy goes into meltdown and attacks on welfare and wages
increase.
The rate of unemployment for this year stands at 6.5% of the
total working population. Alongside prospective plans to double university
tuition fees, many people are coming into contact with revolutionary ideas in
order to explain just what is happening.
Police tops across the country are also preparing for what
they have termed as "a summer of rage" where mounting protests are expected to
turn violent. Saturday's demonstration however passed without incident, despite
police attempts to split up the procession into easily containable sections.
Police numbers were difficult to ascertain, although it has been alleged that
many were equipped with Tazers in addition to their standard kit.
Socialist Appeal members sold a large number of
journals and handed out thousands of leaflets. A meeting was later held at the
University of London Union, where comrade Rob Sewell gave an impassioned talk
on the nature of the crisis and the need for socialism. It was argued that
capitalism's inherent tendency to overproduce due to the absence of economic
planning was responsible for the current situation. A democratically planned
economy based on the workers themselves was argued for, alongside mass action
to defend existing jobs and conditions.
The meeting attracted a fair number of unaffiliated
activists, two of whom immediately expressed their full and enthusiastic
support. All left in an enthusiastic mood and to prepare for additional action.
[See a photograph of the Socialist Appeal banner in an article of the New York Times.]
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