Hi NuYorican. You are right. People coming to demos can’t take over demos. Demos are just groups of people with a shared purpose. I didn’t have anything to do with the organisation of this demo but the problem comes when people start getting pissed off because the demo was called by people who wanted to protest about the horror of Fallujah and it becomes a platform for SWP and RESPECT (who firstly did nothing to get it together, then put the STWC stamp on it, then set up down the road from where the meet up point was, then set up stalls at either end and basically caused a lot of tension, that wasn’t helpful and didn’t have to be there). And, more importantly, lots of people have a problem with using a demonstration to promote a political party. People came together to protest about the killing in Iraq. Not to get George Galloway, and the rest elected. Its about not having another agenda, I suppose.

And Kai,
You are right too (hey me with all this you are right stuff – I should be a schoolteacher ) but its true that the “right” to protest is increasingly being shut down. And I don’t care whether its SLP or SWP or any other party (personally I don’t do political parties unless they have nice food, people, exotic beers no things that look veggie and are actually unexpectedly chicken). The police are there to hassle us, fit us up, make up offences, make us scared, make us lie. They grow behind us…
And manchester and liver pool should work on joint campaigns and protests. I go to manchester social forum which has done The Ministry of Truth (street theatre around civil contingencies bill, use of CCTV in cities) Maybe people from manc and liverpool should get together in a pub and say hi?