The gathering storm

Friday, August 04, 2006

This morning we received signatures for our statement calling for a ceasefire in Lebanon from 200 people on the Isle of Barra, in the Outer Hebrides. Tom in our office tells me that this represents a fifth of the island's population.

Probably none of them will make our demo in London tomorrow, but they are only a fraction of the movement which is building into a great crescendo of protest. One of the sheets of signatures had attached to it a Labour Party membership card to be returned to number 10.

Our office is in an incredible state. Dozens of people pass through every day and at any time there are 20 or 30 in the building. The sandwich bill alone adds up to £50 a day. There are people of all ages here, but especially young people who are outraged at what has happened.

Two young people from Kuwait brought in a flyer for a benefit in east London on Sunday night. A young Saudi has been leafletting different parts of London all week. Young women with and without hijabs are making placards, loading the van, looking for banners, photocopying and phoning.

The stewards' meeting tonight promises to be big with people from all over.

Demonstrations can't happen _ or not on the scale we expect tomorrow_without this level of organisation and commitment. And movements only thrive when they begin to harness this energy and commitment in all sorts of different ways. It was like this when we first began almost five years ago, over the war in Afghanistan. It was like this in the run up to the Iraq war, and again in November 2003 when George Bush came to town.

So this mood and involvement is something special again. It seems to me the biggest crisis Blair has faced since the war itself, as even those Labour MPs who backed him so loyally over the previous wars are turning against him.

Even at this last minute people are booking tickets on coaches, leafletting tubes and getting their friends and families to come. If we are right, this will be very large, and will catch the mood and the moment. A perfect storm is gathering, and the prime minister is at its centre.

8/04/2006 05:43:00 PM | Permalink