The Women’s Institute and the Bolshevik tendency

If there are climate talks, then we must be marching. I’ve been coming to the big, annual By Sian Berry Published 06 November 2006 12:42

If there are climate talks, then we must be marching. I’ve been coming to the big, annual Campaign Against Climate Change march for years, and it has been exponentially bigger every time. This year’s event on Saturday was no exception.

The focus of CACC is to press for international agreement on effective carbon dioxide emissions cuts. So, with the US holding this up ever since George Bush took power, the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square is always the focus of activities, either starting or ending the march.

This year, we began with a rally in the square. Seize the Day provided music between speeches from, among others, CACC vice presidents Norman Baker MP, Green MEP Caroline Lucas and writer George Monbiot. George’s speech was the most startling – he warned activists sternly against too much ‘doom and gloom’ in our campaigning.

He pointed out the disturbing fact that erstwhile climate deniers are changing their strategy and attempting to switch from blocking action by pretending there isn’t any problem into blocking action by painting climate change as too far gone to bother. With most sane people now in a mid-position where we recognise the problem at the same time as recognising a lot of really obvious solutions, he argued that we should tone down our rhetoric, be positive and get some action going at last - or we’d be just as culpable for the consequences. Harsh stuff, but it was something fresh we needed to hear.

On the more political side of things, Caroline Lucas warned Tony Blair that the time for delay and fudge was over. She said that failure to negotiate a fair and effective international treaty is morally negligent and called for real UK leadership in negotiations this week at climate talks in Nairobi.

Setting off for Trafalgar Square, I was struck by the vast range of different groups marching together. Along with the familiar CACC greenhouse, Friends of the Earth flags, a big Green Party contingent and of course our own Alliance Against Urban 4×4s' lollipop man, people dedicated to campaigning on individual issues were everywhere.

I tried to emulate John Reed, author of revolutionary epic ‘Ten Days that Shook the World,’ by collecting as many leaflets and postcards as possible and I now have a fine collection of literature from the likes of Plane Stupid, RoadBlock, Group Against Motorway Expansion, Airportwatch, World Naked Bike Ride, Rising Tide, the Vegan Society, Christian Ecology Link, Stop Stansted Expansion, Come Off It, and the DOVE campaign against the Newhaven incinerator (if I missed your group – sorry!)

Also notable was the rising number of political parties in the mix. I saw placards by the Greens, LibDems, Respect, Socialist Workers and even the Bolshevik Tendency being carried, and speakers from the platform at the Embassy also included Zac Goldsmith for the Tories and Labour MPs.

Arriving at Trafalgar Square, all thoughts of party politics were banished, however, as the CACC march joined thousands of people filling the square as part of the Stop Climate Chaos coalition’s ‘I-count’ rally. Groups supporting the coalition are an even more diverse collection than the activists on the march and include the Women’s Institute.

Instinctively piqued at the lack of real political fire coming from the actors, comedians and pop stars on the stage (no politicians were allowed on the bill), I tried to put my feelings aside at the sight of the huge crowd they had brought along to the day’s set of actions, many of whom wouldn’t have felt comfortable with the radical types outside the US Embassy.

Phil Thornhill, the founder of CACC, started this traditional day of action single-handed in 2001 after the USA pulled out of the Kyoto agreement, and it is the sign of a great achievement that this day is now both a mainstream and an international event, adopted by such a wide range of groups and nations.

Forty-eight countries around the world saw demonstrations on Saturday, including 90,000 in Australia and an inaugural event in Taiwan. Maybe soon we’ll see some results.

 
 

3 comments

New statesman's picture

Tue, 2006-11-07 13:31 — New statesman

I actually missed the event, arriving at 3.25! I would like to have heard George Monbiot, having just read his latest book, Heat. His key statement for me was that many people are keen to ‘talk the talk’ but don’t want to ‘walk the walk’.
Does that sum up the challenge facing the Green Party? While many people will say that “something ought to be done”, they find it unfair that they are told to restrict their personal lifestyles. In a sense they are right because it is shocking to ask ordinary people to make the sacrifices while we ignore the main culprits.
It’s much better to show how we are wasting money on say £70 billion of public money on private consultants to our services and £75 billion earmeaked for Trident.
BTW, I don’t extend that to 4*4 drivers since their owners on the whole seem to have more money than common sense.
From your write up on his speech, it seems it is absolutely true - no one gets elected on a set of negatives. And the positives have to be within touching distance.

greenladywell's picture

Tue, 2006-11-07 16:47 — greenladywell

There were a few Lib Dems on the bike ride. One of them saw my Green Party cycling vest and asked if I knew Sian Berry. Yes, I said. Was she here, he said. I don’t know I said, probably, but she is fighting a by-election at the moment. Yes, I know, he said, I’m a Lib Dem councillor in Camden. If only I had been a bit quicker I would have said you were busy delivering your 10th by-election leaflet to freak him out a bit, never mind :) . Hope campaigning is going well - I will come up and help sometime between now and election day.

New statesman's picture

Mon, 2006-11-06 16:47 — New statesman

You saw LibDems there? Really? I was there all day and saw just the one single LibDem placard being carried by one person. Looked to me like the Lib Dems couldn’t really be bothered to turn out for it! (Nor did I hear anything from the yellows advertising the event)

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