What have you demonstrated for or against?

[SteveH]

Prompted by a comment by Trent.
To my regret, I don't think I ever went on an anti-Vietnam war demo, though I did write letters and sign petitions about it. I went on a revival of the Aldermaston march in 1972, which, like the first but unlike subsequent ones, went from London to Aldermaston, not vice-versa. I fell in with a group of young people about my age (early 20s) from somewhere down south, including a pretty, lame hunchbacked girl whom I got a bit infatuated with. There was a concert in a field at the end, which included Adrian Henri reading some of his poems.
Round about 1980, there was another big CND demo, which went from the Embankment to Trafalgar Square. In the 90s, another, mainly Christian, demo supporting the Jubilee campaign followed the same route. At the beginning, a scruffy, drunk old man saw us, and said, in a loud voice, "I don't want to be offensive, but you people are the scum of the earth!". I wonder what he'd have said if he had wanted to be offensive...
I counter-demonstrated against a march by the sanctimonious twats in the 'Festival Of Light' in the early 70s. The Vietnam war was still going on, as were the Northern Irish troubles, we had stockpiles of nuclear weapons, Israel was persecuting the Palestinians, and there were many other outrages going on, but all those idiots could think of to get hot under the collar about was bare tits on telly.
My most recent demos were three of the four huge central London ones against Brexit, notable for the middle-classness of many participants, and witty placards, such as "Make politics boring again", "I am quite cross", and "Making plans for Nigel", with a drawing of Fartage being pushed off a cliff into the sea (that was mine, actually). Neil Horan was there (google him), dressed as a leprechaun as usual, with a placard saying that Nigel F. had been sent by Christ to lead Britain out of the EU. He was treated with amused tolerance, and had his soapbox plastered with pro-EU stickers.
I was on the notorious anti-BNP march n Welling against the BNP, which turned violent (I wasn't involved in any violence), and missed my coach home, ending up having to hitchhike, and getting home at 3am the next day.
Photos of the Oct. 2018 anti-Brexit march.
Photos of the Mar. 2019 march.
The back of Diane Abbot's head on an anti-austerity demo a few years ago.

[Aruntraveller]

Demonstrated against the National Front in the late 70's. On one memorable occasion stood in front of a crowd of several thousand in the Market Square in Nottingham and read out testimony from holocaust survivors to the crowd.

Lots of Gay Pride marches, which used to be very political, prior to the corporate exercises they have now become. Another memorable occasion was when Pride in 1981 decamped to Huddersfield from London due to police harassment of a gay club. I'm actually pictured in one of these photos under a Wirral CHE banner in the foreground (white shirt, dark trousers, moustache!):

https://wyqs.co.uk/stories/huddersfield-pride-1981/

[ad_orientem]

I flew to London last February to demonstrate against ten years of incompetence by West Ham owners Sullivan, Gold and Brady. #GSBOUT!

[Walt Zingmatilder]

Ah, but were you there when Accrington Stanley fell?

[Udayana]

Went on a number of demonstrations in the late 60's/early 70s, mostly on environmental issues. Eventually decided that they achieve very little apart from increasing aggravation.

Now seems pointless; we are doomed and "nature" will sort things out her own way.

[Anchorman]

 Been on a few demos in the late '70s and early '80's at both Faslane and the Holy loch - anti Polaris and later, Trident. I was never one of the 'Glasgow Eskimos' - not old enough - but I met a fair fewe of them at the Holy loch. The caravan we used as a 'base' is now in the wonderful Glasgow Riverside museum.

[SteveH]

Been on a few demos in the late '70s and early '80's at both Faslane and the Holy loch - anti Polaris and later, Trident. I was never one of the 'Glasgow Eskimos' - not old enough - but I met a fair fewe of them at the Holy loch. The caravan we used as a 'base' is now in the wonderful Glasgow Riverside museum.

My son was a Faslane camper for a while, and briefly lived in that caravan. Danny Horsfall - don't suppose you met him?

[Anchorman]

My son was a Faslane camper for a while, and briefly lived in that caravan. Danny Horsfall - don't suppose you met him?

     


Have you seen the caravan at Riverside?
I believe they've even got the appropriate Tennants' lager can on the floor!
Can't say I remember him; mind you, we weren't part of the 'official' camp.
We were from CCND and the Iona community. We were peaceful by contrast to the others.
I can recall sitting in the caravan drinking a Bovril laced with whisky after one February Saturday, when we tried to block a road where nuke warheads were coming in by ordinary artic lorries, having been refitted elsewhere.
We were wearing pink and white pyjamas and yellow CND (or in our case, CCND) patches sewn on the backs.
The allusion was obvious.
We'd roped ourselves together, and were hoping for   arrest - as publicity, honest.
The police were arresting folk at random, sadly, John Bell and I escaped arrest, hence the consolation Bovril and whisky.
My friend, Ian Tweedlie, however, was nabbed - possibly because he was built like Mike Tyson.
Ian was minister of St.Ninians' Netherthird at the time, and active in the Iona Community.
He was quite a celebrity...he spent three weeks in the 'Bar L'....NS and Gordon will know the provenance of the term - much to our envy!

[Roses]

Whilst I would never take part in one myself, if demonstrations were always peaceful and socially distanced I would have no problem with people taking part, however they are rarely peaceful, like the one last night in which two police officers were injured.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-56461796

[Aruntraveller]

Whilst I would never take part in one myself, if demonstrations were always peaceful and socially distanced I would have no problem with people taking part, however they are rarely peaceful, like the one last night in which two police officers were injured.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-56461796

Is it worth pointing out that if the suffragettes hadn't demonstrated none too peacefully women would not have got the vote as soon as they did.

From wiki:

The suffragettes heckled politicians, tried to storm parliament, were attacked and sexually assaulted during battles with the police, chained themselves to railings, smashed windows, carried out a nationwide bombing and arson campaign, and faced anger and ridicule in the media. When imprisoned they went on hunger strike, to which the government responded by force-feeding them. The first suffragette to be force fed was Evaline Hilda Burkitt. The death of one suffragette, Emily Davison, when she ran in front of the king's horse at the 1913 Epsom Derby, made headlines around the world. The WSPU campaign had varying levels of support from within the suffragette movement; breakaway groups formed, and within the WSPU itself not all members supported the direct action.

[jeremyp]

Is it worth pointing out that if the suffragettes hadn't demonstrated none too peacefully women would not have got the vote as soon as they did.

No, because we don't know that it is true.

[Nearly Sane]

Whilst I would never take part in one myself, if demonstrations were always peaceful and socially distanced I would have no problem with people taking part, however they are rarely peaceful, like the one last night in which two police officers were injured.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-56461796

Do you have figures to show that demonstrations are 'rarely peaceful'?

[Roses]

There is never any excuse for protesters to get violent whatever the cause!

[Nearly Sane]

There is never any excuse for protesters to get violent whatever the cause!

And again do you have figures to show that  your claim that demonstrations are 'rarely peaceful' is correct?

As to your statement here, if the authorities use violence, are you saying protestors have no rights to defend themselves?

[SteveH]

Do you have figures to show that demonstrations are 'rarely peaceful'?

Figures? From LR? Don't be silly!
The great majority of the demonstrations I've been on have been peaceful.

[Anchorman]

There is never any excuse for protesters to get violent whatever the cause!

     

Sorry?
Tell those in South Africa who had no democratic way to show their lack of freedom.
Sometimes violence - however regrettable - was all the option they had.
Or could you syggest another way in which they could have made their feelings known?

[Anchorman]

 I also took part in a couple of AUOB marches...'All under one Banner' pro-independence umbrella group.
These took place between 2016 and 2019, and the largest had over 240,000 marchers going through Glasgow.
Not one arrest, and no trouble - except for the holocaust denier McConnachie, whom we nicknamed 'Manky Jaikit' in honour of his orange and union flag covered atire.....He kept calling us 'Nazi scum'; traitors to the blood' (don't ask.....( etc.
In return, we sang "Ye cannae shove your granny add a bus"
Rhetoric, eh?

[Roses]

I hope the evil scum who caused so many injuries and damage at last night's protest in Bristol are caught and  locked up for a very long time.

[Aruntraveller]

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.

John F Kennedy