One thing that struck me in the days before and during the G20 summit was the poor quality of the protesters - not as human-beings but as knowledgeable idealists. The TV companies tried talking to various groups on the streets but most seemed very vague about the reasons for their protests. They gave the impression inevitably that they were from Rent-a-Mob. There were some protesting about closing post offices, some unhappy about climate change, some jealous of anybody with money, some were simple anarchists and so on. They had a jamboree outside of the Bank of England and they smashed the windows of the Royal Bank of Scotland but did they get any message across to anybody? Few seemed to have got near the ExCel Centre and by Thursday many had gone home. It was very unimpressive.
Were we as bad as this in the sixties? I think not. We were idealists, possibly misguided but we did have clear objectives when we demonstrated. The only time I remember trouble with the police was when we mounted a protest outside the Locarno Ballroom in Bradford at a time when the management of that establishment stuck up a sign on the doors that said simply "No Blacks" It seems unimaginable now but we did get their policy changed very quickly.
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