I've been on my fair share of demos. Small ones, large ones - I've seen 'em all.
Right: Masons? Police? I fail to see the link... Mwah ha ha ha!
Pro-Life, pro-countryside, anti-Poll Tax, anti-McDonalds, anti-EU etc. etc.
One of the strange things about the huge Countryside Rally a few years back in Central London was that the organisers were fastidious in recording the numbers of people officially on the march by having a section where everyone was counted.
Even this under-estimated the volume though as many - myself included - joined further on. Well, in truth a group of us set up shop further on to distribute Nationalist goodies and copies of The Voice of St George* specially printed for the occasion.
My point here ("look, I know you're on about the countryside rally, but cut out the rambling!") is that the numbers on rallies and marches are always disputed and almost always downgraded especially if the cause is contentious (to the establishment).
Usually a figure is released by the organisers which is then disputed and officially lowered by the police. So a million marching against the war in Iraq can become 700,000. Or 1,000 on a Pro-Life demo can become 700.
Yesterday's demo by the police must be the first one ever where the figures have been revised upwards. During the day we were told 18,000 off-duty rozzers were plodding (!) through London. By tea-time the official figure was 20,000.
Of course the fact that the police released this revised/official figure shouldn't have us worried at all... It's akin to the committee (quango) appointed by MPs (so friends of the MPs, paid via the MPs) to decide on MPs pay which invariably decides that MPs should get a pay rise way above inflation ( a sore point these days).
Having been at the sharp end of some police heavy tactics on demos I was looking forward to the horseback brigade charging into the march sending women and children fleeing for their lives (as on the 1990 Poll Tax demo) but to no avail. Damn.
Left: The scandalous decision to let off-duty police officers - let alone uniformed ones - take part in a "Gay Pride" rally shows that we live in a politicised State. Would uniformed coppers be allowed on a nationalist demo? Or a Pro-Life demo? Or an anti queer demo?
After seeing, via the media thank you very much, uniformed police on the "Gay Pride" rally through London I was half hoping that a few of the "gays" might turn up to support the police and traipse along in pink thongs or with leather cowboy trousers with their backsides hanging out. After all, if that isn't offensive on one march (which the uniformed - though off-duty - police take part in!) how could it be anything less than acceptable on yesterday's march?
I did hear of some reports concerning a couple of alleged (non-police) homo/bi-sexuals taking part in the police rally. So it does seem they'll let anyone take part. How inclusive!
Right: A sea of white hats, but how many rolled-up trousers? No pink thongs?
From the air all you could see was a sea of the white 'fair play for police' baseball caps. Is that de rigour down at the lodge these days? If anyone can produce a white Mason's apron with the logo on they'd have the market cornered. Whilst on the subject, what fun to have joined in yesterday's demo with a few dozen people with one trouser leg rolled up!
Either that or to address anyone looking-on, via a megaphone, by shouting "move along, nothing to see here!"
*Order TVOSG via the FC Online Shop here.
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