Manchester grinds to a halt!

This was the best protest I can remember in Manchester. The protest was so full of energy and determination - there was no way the police could pen it in. Every time I looked it just got bigger. The crowd was a great mix - just like September 28.

Yeah it was really good. The occupation of the maths tower was fun, but slightly pointless I think, seeing as we only occupied it for a few hours. But it's all a good learning experience, and we spent that time discussing plans for if we do go to war with Iraq. 24 hour sit-in anyone? :-)

The march was excellent. I didn't realize how many people there were, and it was a great feeling when the peeps from the Maths tower marched down collectively at 6:30ish to join the bigger demo, and the party was in full flow.

The police were being cunts as usual, and a bit abusive to a few people. I saw a guy really take the piss out of a pig who took offense at a comment with a faulty towers-esque "I was talking to her, but looking at you.." line. One cop had a go at me when I was talking to my friend and he thought I was talking about him, and surprisingly (I'm not really good at talking back) managed "I wasn't talking to you, mate - if I was talking to you, I would look at you, yes?" which I was proud of. :-)

But anyone, it was good. Although I had to leave before we got to Piccadily Gardens (I had a family thing to go to) which was a bit shit.

Oh yeah, the police horses were majorly stressing. First they were dancing to the music, then they started going mad. Looked quite dangerous. :-(

Next stop for the anti-war movement in Manchester, Tony Blair's visit to address the CBI conference to be held at the International Convention Centre, Next to GMEX, at the end of November
Everyone's invited

...to Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff and London, we should do this spontaneously EVERY day, until this corrupt system is crippled.

There was one cop who seemed to be particularly arrogant and provocative. He rode through the crowd a number of times (for what purpose!?) with a self important look on his face. Just as the march got marching he swiped a flag from a protestor. It was a thin stick with some silver foil on top of it essentially, and this policeman stole it. He held it aloft like some cavalry soldier and people cheered him ironically. Then he snapped the thing, to even greater cheers! It struck me as an idiotic, absurd impotent gesture of power, just the sort of thing the police are supposed not to be doing in these situations. Anyone know his badge number? anyone get it on film?

Just to answer the protester who asked about occupying the Maths tower for 4 hours. I agree longer occupations will be necessary as part of the ongoing campaign against imperialism but the point of this action was to be part of the national strategy of students simultaneously occupying their universities on the day of action. The overwhelming feeling at 6pm when we saw the road blocking going on on Oxford Road was "We've occupied now lets get out there". The occupation had an unintended side effect.Apparently the security guards told all the Maths students there was a bomb scare and evacuated them out of the building.(We are investigating)

On the demo itself the police who were causing most of the grief were wearing luminous jackets over the top of their uniforms so that they could not be identified by their badge numbers.They were deliberately provoking protesters by punching them in the chest and shoulders, attempting(and failing) to grab megaphones and bikes and tearing placards from peoples hands.Despite their best efforts people stayed calm and on the streets. People watching from passing buses were clearly horrified by the way the police were trying to suppress a peaceful antiwar protest. But the main point is we won the day. We marched right into the centre of Manchester loads of people were beeping there horns in support when we called Bush, Blair and Sharon murdering terrorists. Favourite new chant of the night has got to be Dossier Bullshit Dossier Propaganda.
C U on 24th 4pm GMEX FuckCBI Fuck US Treasury Fuck War

The rush hour road blockades in Fallowfield and on Wilmslow Road in Manchester kicked the day off to a fantastic start. 20 students (many in Hallowe'en costume) blocked the road twice, lifting the block themselves after 5 minutes, before marching up to the university campus for the rest of the day's activities.

Students involved were overwhelmingly positive about the response from the streets, reporting that when they explained to drivers that the block would last only five minutes, they received a lot of support, with horns honking for them, not at them.

Of course, some motorists weren't too happy, with one driver bringing a particularly forceful challenge to the protesters. However, it is fairly safe to say that the sight of a man leaping out of his BMW to manhandle an array of Hallowe'en apparitions from his path, screaming 'you're costing me MONEY!' will have been faily effective in terms of attracting attention. Drivers in the area certainly woke up properly, and with actions like this, many more will be waking up to the issues of sanctions and the horrific consequences of any further military action in Iraq.

A great success!