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Blog: People's Vote March

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On Saturday The Words On My Placard and I headed into central London to do some ACTIVISM by attending The People's Vote March.

The aforementioned Stops On My Tube Line suggested that instead of going for the announced NOON gathering at Marble Arch we instead aim to get to Green Park just after 1pm and join the march there, thus avoiding the usual interminable waiting about and then AGONISINGLY SLOW shuffle down Park Lane. This turned out to be a GRATE idea, and one shared by several hundred other people, who all came out of the station at the same time as us!

The march itself was ENORMOUS. We are more used to going on Anti-Badger Cull demoes, which have a slightly more SELECT crowd, but this felt like half the country was there. We had out "I (heart) EU" banners ready, and it was fun to look around and see all the creativity that had gone into everybody else's. Doing "funny" banners seems to have become a THING at demos over the past few years, and it is something I SUPPORT, not least because it gives you something to look at while you're trudging along. It was also VERY noticeable that there were no SWP or similar banners this time (as I guess they are, for reasons I am obviously too FALSE CONSCIENCED to understand, pro-Brexit) but instead a wide array of anger and GAGS. There was also a wide array of PEOPLE (and children, and dogs) of all sizes, shapes, colours and backgrounds. The weirdest thing about the day was when I kept seeing POSH people and I'd assume that they were somehow lost, but then one of them would turn out to be carrying a "Piss Off Farage" placard.

We shuffled along to Trafalgar Square and then stopped on Whitehall to eat our sandwiches, which meant we got to stand and watch as LITERALLY THOUSANDS of people marched past us. It was remarkable what GOOD HUMOUR everybody was in - Billy Bragg has said that the point of a demo is to remind everyone that they are not alone, and GOODNESS ME but that was certainly the case here. We were ALL doing this together and it was lovely!

We got up to as far as Downing Street, but couldn't get any closer to Parliament Square where the main speeches were being given. However, we DID get close to a video screen, where we heard Caroline Lucas be ACE, and then got close enough to SEE Tom Watson be... well, let's say "slightly disingenuous" about whose fault it all was. I'm PRETTY SURE he voted FOR Article 50 and AGAINST the People's Vote didn't he? Still, at least it was NICE to see SOMEBODY from the Labour front bench there.

THAT, however, was pretty much the only slightly sour note in what was otherwise a LOVELY afternoon's stroll amongst like-minded and DELIGHTFUL people. I don't know if it'll do any good - I have no doubt Express Columnists will claim we were all RUSSIAN BOTS, and I was amused to see twits on twitter saying we were ALL MIDDLE CLASS just for being there - but it's heartening to know that at least we made our opinions known. In the words of so many poets, FUCK BREXIT!

posted 25/3/2019 by MJ Hibbett

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