THE FREEDOM OF THE STREETS
Today there will be mass protests in the city of London. I know some people who will be there, I will not. I have never been a good protestor, overly self conscious; I never felt comfortable shouting slogans or carrying placards, always felt peripheral, surplus to requirements, more observer than protestor.
I wish them well. The right to protest, to reclaim our rights as citizens, to occupy our streets is fundamental. We are not citizens under licence.
Much is always made of violence, which the media of course love, good TV footage. My experience, I was involved in the famous Poll Tax riot in London, is that it is the police who invariably come tooled up for a ruck, who are, 'up for it!' I remember the aggression of the police on that day, though managed to get away before things got really rough. I am not large, cannot as they say ‘handle my self’ and anyway lack physical courage, in any melee I simply represent cannon fodder. However I remember Orwell’s remark, ‘when I see an actual flesh-and-blood worker in conflict with his natural enemy, the policeman, I do not have to ask which side I am on.’[1]
[1] Homage to Catalonia P 124
I wish them well. The right to protest, to reclaim our rights as citizens, to occupy our streets is fundamental. We are not citizens under licence.
Much is always made of violence, which the media of course love, good TV footage. My experience, I was involved in the famous Poll Tax riot in London, is that it is the police who invariably come tooled up for a ruck, who are, 'up for it!' I remember the aggression of the police on that day, though managed to get away before things got really rough. I am not large, cannot as they say ‘handle my self’ and anyway lack physical courage, in any melee I simply represent cannon fodder. However I remember Orwell’s remark, ‘when I see an actual flesh-and-blood worker in conflict with his natural enemy, the policeman, I do not have to ask which side I am on.’[1]
[1] Homage to Catalonia P 124
