On 26th March half a million people demonstrated their anger at the cuts by staging a march for an alternative. Half a million trade unionists, students, pensioners, children and representatives of all left of centre political groups marched against the savage cuts imposed by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. This was the biggest demonstration called by the TUC ever!
Several members of the Carlisle and Eden branch joined a Green Party column with placards saying 'Tax the Rich,' 'Stop the Cuts' and 'Welfare not Warfare'. What is more the Carlisle and Eden Greens marched together with about 100 Green Party activists and were joined by Caroline Lucas. At one point we joined a radical choir and sang classics like the Internationale as well as songs from the Spanish Civil War; at other points we mingled with the brass bands, samba bands and Scottish pipers - it was a carnival of the people.
At various points Carlisle Greens bumped into other people from Carisle - teachers, students, poltical activists and train drivers. It was great to see people we knew locally appearing in London and meeting across the crowds to swap our stories.
At Trafalagar Square we were met with crowds surging over the lions and a sea of red, green and red and black flags, with home-made placards, people in fancy dress and a group of 20 people dressed as Bankers. It was a wonderful sight to see such joy and hope. People were singing more often than shouting. Going on down Piccadilly we walked past the occupation of Fortunum and Mason, where peaceful protestors inside were waving banners and smiling at the crowd, who jubilantly waved back and chanted 'PAY YOUR TAX' in anger at the posh grocer's shameless tax evasion.
Further on we saw the first signs of damage at the Ritz, though again the scene was calm, there was no tension and we all felt safe. It was clear that these were attacks on the property and symbols of a system we were all protesting against.
As evening fell London turned into an open air party. Protesters strolled about the street setting up spontaneous gatherings, playing music and joining in with the samba band that had taken root at Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square. Even the tourists mingled with the politicos, and all were safe.
It was largely when the police moved in on the occupiers at Fortnum and Mason and finally, when they closed down the spontaneous gathering at Trafalagar Square that violence erupted. If the police had not intervened the violence would have been little more than the symbolic attacks in Piccadilly.
The unreported fact is that in large non-political gatherings, you are more likely to see muggings, thefts, sexual assault, hate crime and a host of ills that go along with commercial society - in London on 26th March that whole world was wiped off the streets of a capital that was under the people's control.
What can we take from the day? We can show that by protesting people gather their confidence, feel less alone and part of something bigger and worth fighting for. The protest alone will not change the government's policy, but then look at the Poll Tax for an example of how a protest linked up with local action over a period of six months can reverse a Tory policy and bring down a Prime Minister. Even recently we have seen how protests against the sell off of the forests and the Education Maintenance Allowance have forced the government to backtrack, and so we must keep up the pressure and never give up. The cracks are starting to appear and the elections will give us an opportunity to widen them further.
In addition, Socialist Worker journalists noted that around 1,000 banners from as many organisations appeared on the historic march, illustrating that the march was a real mass mobilisation: Socialist Worker Online