15 February 2003 anti-war protest in London
February 15, 2003 was a day of global protests against the imminent invasion of Iraq. The British Stop the War Coalition (StWC) held a protest in London which became the largest demonstration in the city's history. The police estimated 750,000 people took part and the organisers estimated around 2 million.
Organisation
The StWC, who had held a series of demonstrations and rally's against the Afghanistan war and then against the coming Iraq war, along with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the Muslim Association of Britain called for a national demonstration in London for February 15 which had been agreed as an international day of protest.
In the lead up to Febuary 15th the StWC was organising from a small office donated by the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE). As the day approached it became clear to the organisers that it would be much larger than any previous rally and it was agreed that the March would start from two seperate locations. Thames Embankment (for Londoners and those travelling from the south) and Gower Street (for those travelling from the midlands and the North). The plan was for the two marches to merge at Piccadilly Circus and proceed to a rally at Hyde Park.
The negotiations for this plan faulted when government Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Tessa Jowell instructed the Royal Parks Agency to deny permission for the rally in Hyde Park - ostensibly for safety reasons and to protect the grass [1]. However after failure to agree an alternative venue and much pressure from the StWC and this was reversed.
Support
The demonstration gained widespead support. It was backed by the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone who used his position to help sort out the administrative issues. Previously the British press had taken a low view of the newsworthyness of demonstrations, with the Guardian claiming to have a general policy not to cover them, however sections of the media came over to support this demonstration. The Daily Mirror was most enthusiastic not only giving large coverage in the lead up to the march but giving financial sponsorship to the demonstration providing thousands of placards. The demonstration also received sponsorship support from Greenpeace and Mecca-Cola.
The day
On the day the weather was grey but people were in high spirts even as London became gridlocked and protesters were stuck for hours at Gower Street and Embankment. Many commentators noted the diversity of those attending the march, Euan Ferguson noted in the Observer that:
"[As well as the] usual suspects - CND, Socialist Workers' Party, the anarchists ... There were nuns. Toddlers. Women barristers. The Eton George Orwell Society. Archaeologists Against War. Walthamstow Catholic Church, the Swaffham Women's Choir and Notts County Supporters Say Make Love Not War (And a Home Win against Bristol would be Nice). They won 2-0, by the way. One group of SWP stalwarts were joined, for the first march in any of their histories, by their mothers. There were country folk and lecturers, dentists and poulterers, a hairdresser from Cardiff and a poet from Cheltenham."[2]
All police leave in the capital was cancelled for the event however Scotland Yard said it passed off almost without incident [3].
Many people did not make it into Hyde Park, especially those who had to get coaches back to their home locations. Those that did heard various speakers, including George Galloway, Tony Benn, Bianca Jagger and Charles Kennedy.
Because of the size of the March it is hard to estimate the number of people who attended, some have speculated that the low police figure of 750,000 does not take into consideration the fact that many people were not able to do the whole march. An ICM poll for the Guardian (14-16th February, 2002) found that 6% of people had claimed that someone from their household intended to go, or went on the march. According to StWC this translates into 1.25 million households which, given that more then one person could come from each household, supports the 2 million figure [4].
See also
Further Reading
- Stop the War:The story of Britain's biggest mass movement, Andrew Murray and Lindsey German, ISBN 1905192002
- Millions join global anti-war protests, BBC
- The great unheard finally speak out, The Observer, Sunday February 16, 2003
- Two million march, Socialist Worker, 22 February 2003
- Stop the war, Nyier Abdou, Al-Ahram