Pictures from the rally

These are much better than anything I could manage. Pictures taken by someone from the TPA and a highly artistic collage of signs by Brian Micklethwait, the libertarian blogger. I shall post more links as I find them.

Surprisingly successful

About 350 people turned up for Rally Against Debt, which is not bad, given the lack of money and resources behind the organization of it. It's not like we had taxpayer sponsored unions to provide transport to thousands of people from all over the country - all who came paid their own way. And, of course, it was largely organized through blogs, twitter, facebook and word of mouth with some help from the MSM.

Some nice home-made placards. I liked the chap who was wondering round with a large notice that supported the cuts "if there are any". Someone else pleaded for Britain not to have a Greek tragedy; one person encouraged people to read Ayn Rand (he likes the woman's novels whereas I advise everyone to stick to her essays as they are shorter and pithier); one person even informed the world that Che was a mass murderer and that t-shirt is not funny, on the grounds that Bob Crow has been known to wear one of those. Anyway, it was good humoured and Old Palace Yard was left spotless afterwards. We are, as a well-known blogger said to me, civilized people.

Some cars going by hooted in support but my favourite sight was that of a police officer explaining to somebody who was just there to take photographs why we should not be bailing out other countries. The rest of us stood back and let him get on with it.

Will anything come of it? Hard to tell. The Tea Parties over on the side of the Pond started with far smaller meetings but they were across the country in many different states, organized by local people who became activists out of frustration with their party politicians. This is still only London and two of the speakers were Tory MPs with one UKIP MEP. (One couldn't hear the speeches so it really is of little importance what they said but one can imagine.)

There has been a reasonable amount of coverage, which surprised us all: the Guardian, the BBC (with the Greek tragedy poster), the Telegraph and news on AOL.

Well, blogger is back

Apologies for interrupted service and for vanishing postings. Amazingly enough, blogger, having removed late postings in order to carry out what was clearly major reparation works, have put them all back. One would like to think that it was all about Chinese hackers but, sadly, the most likely explanation is things going badly wrong during a routine upgrade or maintenance work. Still, all is well that ends well and I shall be able to put up pictures and comments about tomorrow's Rally Against Debt.

Rally Against Debt

All the information, including place, time and list of (to me highly uninspiring) speakers is here. Naturally, I shall go along, take some pictures and blog about it all afterwards. I might even listen to the speakers but I do not think they are the important part of the event. What is important is that the event is taking place at all. It might, just might be the start of something.

The battle is hotting up

And we have not even started yet. News of the Rally Against Debt is spreading through various blogs and articles. As was entirely predictable, so is the fury and hysteria on the other side.

Harry Cole on Total Politics writes that he will be joining and explains a few things much to the discontent of some of his readers:

Whether it was the more likely figure of 100,000, or the more ambitious quote of half a million that marched through London two weeks ago with the TUC, there is no denying it was good turnout. But how did they do it? The TUC spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on transport, advertising, staffing, promotional material etc. Most of this money came from the taxpayer, channelled through public-sector jobs and back into the union coffers through membership subs.

You can understand why they did it. The trade union movement is a lobbying firm as powerful and dangerous to democracy as big pharmaceutical protection agents and the infamous smoking and arms lobby. They are just as self-interested in protecting the financial interests and wallets of those who have a stake in them and will go out of their way to manipulate the media and the law to that means.

The March for an Alternative wasn’t an organic outpouring of anger that spilled on to the streets, but the end product of seven months’ work by a professional events company. And still they only managed to get less than 0.2% of the country to turn up. The spin and lines to come out of the event was that it was the true face and opinion of the British public, but this is complete rot. It was an assortment of public sector workers and students and those related to them. All dependent on seeing the status quo, and thus their interests, protected, even when it is a direct threat to the best interests of the rest of the population and the nation.

Indeed, let us not forget who paid for all that organization: that patient milch-cow, the taxpayer, and there is a good deal of unhappiness at the news that the patience is wearing very thin.

Toby Young writes about his intention to join the demo for a short time as he has family commitments on that day and describes a growing phenomenon: the nasty personal attacks aimed at anyone and everyone who has expressed support for the demonstration or intention to join. Apparently, all who do that, especially Toby Young, are worse than Nazis. (This is an argument I have experienced myself, being called a fascist for expressing the non-controversial opinion that there is nothing wrong in people buying or renting homes where they can afford it. After all, those of us who do not get housing benefits have to make decisions like that all the time.)

Mr Young, I am glad to say is unfazed by the insults and threats (exactly what have his looks to do with the whole issue?) or with the hysterical arguments about Britain entering a new dark age of poverty:

I can only assume that [Richard] Godwin doesn’t have the first clue about the scale of the cuts, which he describes as “reckless”, any more than he does about free schools. In 2010, the UK recorded general government net borrowing of £148.9 billion, which was equivalent to an unsustainable 10.2 per cent of GDP. The cuts began yesterday, on so-called “worse off Wednesday”, but in the past year public spending actually increased by several billion. In 2014-15, when the programme of cuts reaches its zenith, public spending is projected to be £648 billion in real terms compared to £669 billion in 2009-10. That’s a total cut of three per cent. (Cuts to spending on public services, if you compare 2014-15 to 2009-10, will be 12 per cent according to the IFS.) Fairly modest? Absolutely not.

According to Cath Elliott in today’s Guardian, these “ideological” cuts will mean “our valued public services being decimated beyond recognition”. So pegging public spending back to above the level it was at in 2008-09 (£640 billion), some 12 years after Labour was first elected and more than 50 per cent higher than it was in 1999-00, is going to decimate public services beyond recognition? What planet is she on? Elliott goes on to say that the Coalition is intent on “destroying the NHS”, apparently unaware that the Chancellor has committed the government to spending more on the NHS each year for the lifetime of this Parliament. In Elliott’s topsy turvy world, increasing government expenditure on a public service is tantamount to “destroying” it.

There is a good deal to be said for the argument that if something is not done about the debt, Britain will have to beg for a bail-out in the wake of the PIIGS. My argument with the way the government is going about the business is that there is no strategic or ideological thinking behind it.

The Richard Godwin Mr Young mentions is a man I described as an airhead hack but is, apparently, the Deputy Arts Editor of the Evening Standard. There's glory for you, as Humpty-Dumpty said.

I did see Mr Godwin's nauseating article in one of the Standard's frothy personal columns about everyone who intends to go on the Rally Against Debt being a creep: nasty journalists, supporters of the Taxpayers' Alliance and disgruntled UKIP types. So unlike the trustafarians who head up UK Uncut. I don't know for certain but I suspect that their mummies and daddies managed to tie up a good deal of their incomes in trusts to avoid taxes as much as possible. Nor does their care for the poor extend to the not particularly well paid cleaners who had to toil through the night to clear up the mess the spoilt brats left behind.

It is not just insults that are being thrown around but actual threats of violence against individual organizers of the demo and possibly against it as well, though my own suspicion is that those who issue threats in comments on articles and on Facebook are unlikely to budge out of their basements on the day. If these twerps knew anything about history they might find it slightly ironic that they are threatening violence on the streets against a peaceful demonstration with whose ideas they disagree and whom they call fascists. Ahem, who actually proclaimed and practised violence on the streets to suppress dissent?

Possibly the beginning of the beginning

Some time ago I posted a somewhat critical piece about the so-called UK Tea-Party Movement, whose first (and only successful) meeting was really a fringe event at one of the Conservative Party conferences in Brighton. Chaired and addressed by Conservative MEPs, it was attended by Conservative delegates to the conference. Unsurprisingly, it got nowhere.

I can now report about a much more exciting initiative: a Rally Against Debt to be held in London on May 14. This is a genuinely private initiative, unconnected to the Conservative Party though at least one MEP has, as could have been expected, already jumped on the bandwagon. Let us hope he will not insist on addressing the event to tell us that the only way forward is to support the Boy-King.

Still, there are other supporters. Ed West has blogged about it in the Telegraph. Word is being spread through the social networks. The Facebook site is becoming very popular. So, anyone who can, please join us on the day.

As more news and support come in, I shall post about it. In the meantime, here is what the organizers say about the event:

A well mannered, polite rally for civilised people who don’t wish to see their hard earned money being spent on pointless government initiatives and instead would like government spending to actually fall and our national debt to be cut.

We don’t think that it’s fair for us to continue borrowing money to live a lifestyle that we simply can’t afford – burdening our children with unnecessary debt that they will have to pay back.

Any visits to Fortnum and Mason’s by protestors will only be to marvel at their selection of quality goods and perhaps make the occasional purchase.

Bonfires will be strictly forbidden: it’s out of season anyway.

Trips to see Vodafone and other high street chains will result in congratulations to the company for providing jobs and growth in the UK.

How can you resist such blandishments?

UPDATE: Just found Harry Phibbs's posting on ConHome.