Protest and Survive

I’ve got a few days off work, using up my annual leave before the end of the month, so I’ve come over to Manchester to visit M.

We decided on an urban walk for our daily exercise today and, as luck would have it, this coincided with a protest against the Police and Crime Bill which we joined up with here on Portland Street as protesters sat down to temporarily halt cars and trams. See Extras too.

The whole thing was conducted peacefully and (almost) everyone was suitably masked-up, including us. After so many months of studiously avoiding people - even in small numbers - it felt very odd to be amongst such a large gathering, but I nevertheless felt compelled both to show my support and to record the moment for posterity. It’s absolutely imperative to me that we don’t allow our right to protest/dissent to be undermined by this government, and that we don’t allow the current pandemic to let the government justify such an authoritarian policy. In the city that experienced the Peterloo Massacre back in 1819, this struck me particularly forcefully today.

Today’s tune on Folkie’s Jukebox is ‘Know Your Rights’ by The Clash https://youtube.com/watch?v=5lfInFVPkQs