Samba band Rhythms of Resistance plays to the crowd at the start of Stop the War/CND/BMI Troops Out march, London
Around 50,000 people came for the Stop the War/Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) /British Muslim Initiative (BMI) march in central London, though not all got get into Trafalgar Square for the rally before the event. Those who did heard Tony Benn, Bruce Kent and others speak and could also watch the police forward intelligence teams (FIT) paying attention to the small groups of anarchists, both 'Class War' and 'FitWatch', who were making their usual efforts to frustrate the attempts of the police photographers. It made an impressive demonstration as it moved off down Whitehall, and turned down over Westminster Bridge on its way to return to Parliament Square over Lambeth Bridge and up Millbank. As the end of the march passed the bottom of Big Ben's clocktower, those at the front were coming into Parliament Square, miles and 40 minutes ahead. As well as supporting the main aims of the march - withdrawal of our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, no attack on Iran and a free Palestine, groups of protesters brought other issues to notice, including the genocide in Somalia. A special award for the protest group with the longest name must go to 'The Campaign for Abolition of all Misogynist Gender Based legislation & Islamic Punitive Laws in Iraq.' Flowers were laid around the statue of Nelson Mandela in Parliament Square and there were more speeches.
Size: 5010px × 3354px
Location: Whitehall, London, England, UK
Photo credit: © Peter Marshall / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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