28th Sept In a powerful turnout of the opposition to the U.S. and U.K. driven proposals for war on Iraq, the anti-war demo organised by the Stop The War Coalition and the Muslim Association of Britain, and supported by CND attracted according to the organizers around 400,000 demonstrators [videos 1,2 : audio]. The numbers equalled the numbers on the right-wing Countryside Alliance march a week earlier when (probably for the first time in history) police and organisers agreed on the same number of 'disaffected rural protesters' which included members of the Tory party, aristocracy and the BNP. That march was prepared for two years and costed 2 million pounds. Police had yesterday informed City of London Security that they were expecting 30-40,000 people on today's anti-war march, but by the afternoon had counted 'more than 150,000 people', adding there had been two arrests for minor public order offences. The Stop the War coalition has called for a national day of action on Thursday the 31st of October to stop the war.

Pictures 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20
Year Zero photos: 1 | 2 | 3 and Guilfin.net photo library

See discussion on numbers and press reports 1 : 2 : 3 : NUJ reports journalists under pressure not to report anti-war events. See corporate news coverage of the demonstration. Also see protest quotes and interviews and debate: 1 : 2. First-hand accounts: 1 : 2

DISOBEDIENCE Paper - Text of 4-page newssheet given out on Saturday's march, focussing on the need for direct action as well as big marches to deter world leaders from their war effort. Plus full listing of alternative news sources.

Similar protests were held throughout the world on Saturday. Around one hundred thousand demonstrated in Rome, while more actions were held in Milano, Cairo, Berlin (de), Dublin (pics), Sevilla and Madrid (esp), Sydney and across New Zealand [ 1 | 2 ]. Even as political opposition to an Iraq war builds in the U.S., thousands gathered in San Francisco [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 ], Washington DC and hundreds rallied in St. Louis for peace.

Meanwhile in Washington DC the weekend sees continued protests against the IMF and World Bank (see IMC DC breaking news, live radio stream and events listing).

Update 6:20 pm GMT The end of the march has reached Hyde Park where the speeches (several calling for direct action) finished at 6pm - read Scott Ritter and John Pilger, or listen to John Pilger or Tony Benn speeches. The first people are leaving from the centre of the crowd, big presence of corporate media. Phone report that all side streets around Embankment, Whitehall and Trafalgar Sq were full of demonstrators having diverted from the main route of the march as there were so many people. The yellow smoke at Downing St actually came out of effigies of George Bush, Tony Blair and Berlusconi.

Update 5:50 pm GMT First video reports [report 1 | [report 2]

Update 4:50 pm GMT The demonstration continues to be peaceful and police are holding back. All shops along the route are open.

Update 4:10 pm GMT A megaphone announcement at Whitehall says that SkyTV have reported a 400,000 turnout [audio report]. The BBC website speaks of "up to 250,000 demonstrators" whilst AP follow the initial police estimate in a wire report that it's only 50,000!

Update 3:50 pm GMT The Samba Band has stopped in Whitehall in front of Downing St, dancing and a cloud of orange smoke is coming out of the crowd. The mood is festive with police not being too pushy [audio report | Pictures]. Reports from Trafalgar Sq talk of police being more tense there. Lots of police vans in sidestreets near Whitehall.

Update 3:20 pm GMT The crowd has already reached Trafalgar Sq with people still leaving Embankment station. Police try to control the crowd by cordoning off the street with crash barriers, diverting people on the right lane to the march, and people on the left lane onto a roundabout. Demonstrators have started to jump the fence. Police have violently dragged an IMC reporter taking phoptographs off the fence [audio report] but have now allowed people to pass the fence one by one after tense exchanges of words. Asked how many people there were, a policeman said: "Haven't got a clue. Hundreds of thousands. Can't even hear my radio, mate." First telephone reports estimate the crowd to be half a million [report]. Meanwhile in Trafalgar Sq two marches are merging: the planned one from Parliament Sq and the other coming down the Strand.

Update 2:30 pm GMT After the demonstration had started at 1:30 pm, masses of people are making their way past Parliament towards Trafalgar Square, the front of the march having reached Hyde Park already. Listen to the audio report.

Saturday 28th saw the national 'Don't attack Iraq - Justice for Palestine' protest in London with coaches booked from throughout the country. Called by the Stop the War Coalition and the Muslim Association of Britain and supported by CND the march confirmed the expectations of being the biggest peace protest of recent times. An anti-capitalist bloc also took part in the march (see also war subvert, march chants).

Ahead of Saturday's demonstration a peace camp had been set up at the Imperial War Museum, and though initially threatened with eviction, it continued through the demonstrations today (pics).

On Tuesday 24th, the day Parliament discussed the plans for war with Iraq, hundreds of people gathered in Parliament Square to hold a vigil, which included a naked protest [1 | 2]. On Thursday 26th a group of activists took over the streets with a huge cardboard tank - wearing masks and with fake guns and rocket launchers they visited Parliament, Downing St, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as well as an army recruitment exhibition (Pics 1 | 2).

Protests against war in Iraq and years of sanctions [ video] have continued throughout the summer. In early August, the Westminster Council looked to evict a peace activist from his 11 month 'pavement protest' in Parliament Square, yet the vigil continues. On 2nd September there was a banner drop [ video] at Downing Street. Beyond demonstrations, the peace movement in Britain continues gather momentum. Members of War Resisters' International are facing legal action over withholding the portion of their tax to be used to fund illegal aggression. Moreover, over 160 Labour Party backbench MPs signed an Early Day Motion against attacking Iraq. Over a thousand people have signed a Pledge of Resistance, committing themselves to taking part in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience should Iraq - or any other country - be attacked in the course of the ‘War on Terrorism.’ Hundreds more have pledged to support them.

Iraq, via the United Nations, has promised unconditional access to weapons inspectors. The US, however, has dismissed the offer as a delaying tactic and remains determined to press ahead with military action, counting on pressuring international support. Inside the U.N. on Tuesday, delegates scrambled to slow the Bush Administration's seemingly relentless drive to war, but "in its efforts to adopt a new and responsive U.N. Security Council resolution, the U.N. is falling behind the U.S. schedule for [military] action." More are also concluding that oil [pdf] is the dominant factor behind the war drums. On September 24, Blair presented to Parliament a dossier (pdf) purporting justification for war. The dossier, however, contains very little new information, and has been criticised from many quarters.

See also: IMC UK Iraq Section : Iraq Journal : Schnews Latest : Active Resistance to the Roots of War : Direct Action Against the War Now : Voices in the Wilderness : Media Workers Against War