Oct 27th 1968 on Vietnam, 15th February 2003 on Iraq, to Nov 11th 2023 on Gaza. People Power worries the State
On 27th October 1968 100,000 demonstrators marched to Hyde Park to protest the war in Vietnam. It was organised by the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign. Tariq Ali one of the organisers was clear that the route deliberately avoided going to the US Embassy, then in Grosvenor Square. The aim of the march was not to have a punch up with the police, but a public display of large numbers protesting peacefully against war.
This did not stop the Times claiming that the march was really about violent revolt
‘A small army of militant extremists plan to seize control of certain highly sensitive installations and buildings in central London next month while 6,000 Met policemen are busy controlling an estimated crowd of 100,000 anti-Vietnam war demonstrators’
Times 5th September 1968
It was not of course, although a group of Maoist protesters did engage with police in Grosvenor Square, separate to the main march.
On 15th February 2003 well over a million people marched to Hyde Park to protest about war with Iraq. The protest was organised by the Stop the War Coalition and a coalition including the Muslim Association of Britain and CND. Apparently the march coincided with a heightened terror alert requiring the deployment of tanks at Heathrow. There were also arguments about whether Hyde Park could be used at all.
On 11th November 2023 a march set to involve very large numbers of people will protest against military destruction in Gaza by the Israeli Army, with thousands of civilians dead and injured. The march is organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and others and the aim is a mass peaceful show of solidarity with Gaza.
The Government has tried and failed to get it banned and the Home Secretary Braverman has tried to incite far right groups to cause trouble on the day
Historically there are two key points about all these marches. Firstly they are all about Britain’s foreign policy and in particular the link between the British Government, of which ever party and the US on wars. Secondly that they have all been organised by coalitions from below without the official support of unions or Labour, although no doubt many trade unionists and Labour supporters have been and will be involved in all three.
People Power on the streets worries Westminster and has done for 55 years now. Yet the ability of official politics to understand and relate to the reasons for thousands taking to the streets remains absent. That is actually historically unusual
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