Stop the War joins Occupy LSX London for Peace March

On 18 December 2011, Stop the War Coalition and the Occupy LSX, camped outside St Paul's Cathedral, joined together for a peace march from St Paul's to Parliament Square, on the way pinning an invoice on the door of the government's Cabinet Office, for the £140.25 billion Britain has spent in the wars on Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya and plans to spend on the Trident nuclear missile system.

We gathered at St Paul’s on Sunday at lunchtime. Several members of the camp and Alistair Cartwright of Stop the War Coalition spoke to the crowd.

Passionate speeches were made about the collective wish for peace. A veteran for peace also spoke out against the war in Afghanistan.

The crowd moved off along the pavement to the beats of anti war songs. A large mobile PA system followed our route. It was an energetic march of people from many different backgrounds and ages.

As we walked down Fleet Street and along the Stand we merged with members of the public, as people looked very pleased to see us.

As we were confined just to the pavement, people at bus stops and shoppers briefly became part of the peace walk as we mingled in with the 99% who support our aims.

At Trafalgar Square we spontaneously mounted the plinth with banners and danced to cheers from members of the public who were in the square at the time. We stayed a while, enjoying the atmosphere, which was expressed on some of the hand made banners, which read, ‘Peace is Possible’.

We moved on down Whitehall, to the Cabinet Office where we paused. The crowd moved to the entrance and a large invoice was attached to the Cabinet Office door.

It listed wars, which have been paid for by the Government through 99% of people’s taxes. Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Trident replacement total 140 billion pounds.

The real costs of war are of course, much larger than the military budget, when we consider the impact these wars have had on our soldiers, many of whom who are now injured both mentally and physically.

We must also consider the costs paid by the Government for ‘counter terrorism’ and the continued administrative costs of facilitating this action over ten years in the case of the ‘War on Terror.’

A policeman attempted to convince some of us that we had caused criminal damage by attaching the giant invoice to the Cabinet Office door. He was persuaded that this wasn’t the case as the giant invoice was attached with fishing wire and Sellotape.

He made a swift exit after, making a sarcastic comment about whether ‘they’ will pay the invoice! Our gripe is that they already have and it was not in our name.

A4 Invoices were delivered to every member of the cabinet in envelopes. Peace signs were left on the window ledges and along the railings.

We moved on to Parliament, where we lined the area along the front gates. Demonstrators climbed the railings to attach anti war placards.

The music played on until John Rees, founder of Stop the War Coalition spoke over the microphone about the ludicrous wars, which have been wrongly prosecuted in the name of 99% of people in the UK.