Kmflett's Blog

21 years on from 15th Feb 2003 marching against war

Many readers of this will have been on the central London demonstration called by the Stop the War Coalition on Saturday 15th February 2003 as I was myself.

It was the biggest demonstration in British history and remains so.

The British Government still very clearly has imperial ambitions. Before that cold Saturday twenty one years ago it would have been a minority of left and peace voices that spoke out, today after a period when Britain was forced to hold back from some interventions, the situation is arguably in the balance. Anti-war voices or even those just suggesting jaw jaw is better than war, are not much heard in official circles, although the movement against Israel’s genocide in Gaza is massive, and calls to end pointless death and destruction in Ukraine are also growing

Making sure the 2003 demonstration is remembered and underlining the historical point that popular mobilisations make a difference is important.

While there were many young people on the march, the fact remains that there are people in their twenties and thirties today who are too young to have either been on the march or to remember it. If in today’s environment it was said,’ we can mobilise well over a million in people in central London for an important issue’, eyebrows might well be raised, at least until the Palestine demonstrations. That Saturday 21 years ago was the template for that.

So making sure that the event is remembered and remains in the popular memory is an important task not just for historians but for the left generally.

For those who were there, and it was estimated that someone from most households across the UK was, the question twenty one years on remains one of what impact was made, and whether marching changes anything.

Here history can provide some pointers.

As the historical sociologist Charles Tilly argued in his book Repertoires of Contention- looking at Britain in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries- people fighting injustice can follow a range of strategies. These can vary from petitions through strikes to armed revolts and from riots to large indoor meetings that agree to lobby Parliament.

It depends what is thought to be effective at the time and what mobilises numbers for the maximum impact. In recent times a march with a large and broad turn-out, although far from the only strategy, has often made a significant and sometimes lasting political point.

There is another angle made by the late Peter Sedgwick in his introduction, Farewell, Grosvenor Square to David Widgery’s 1976 volume about the left in the 1960s.

Sedgwick argues that until the rise of CND in the late 1950s the idea of going on a demonstration to make a political point seemed an odd one for many. If you wanted change you wrote to your MP and voted for a Government from time to time.

The minority who did march were watched by many more from the nearest pavement.

From the 1960s all that changed. As Sedgwick noted when delivering leaflets door to door for a protest the reaction was no longer puzzlement from the householder but ‘thanks luv see you at t’demo then’.

Even if a march does not have the precise consequences that were  desired it often does beg significant political questions and may do so long after the last marcher has returned home.

That’s why it is important to keep remembering that cold Saturday of 15th February 2003 and to keep in mind that it can and will happen again.

But while we are remembering 15th February it is important not to forget some other points.

The march did not stop the drive to war with Iraq. The war itself did not come until a month later on March 19/20th 2003. At that point the aim of anti-war activists was to take protests beyond demonstrations towards walk-outs and industrial action. Some did take place, but not sufficient numbers to reinforce the impact of 15th February. It suggests that in the circumstances of the time the mass march was far from being our best strategy to stop the war but in fact the best shot we could muster. Unfortunately it was not enough

Finally a literal footnote. Despite the concern of the Royal Parks and the then Culture Secretary, the late Tessa Jowell, the grass in Hyde Park survived the march and last time I checked was still thriving.