March in Manc

On Sunday I went with some friends in UNITE and UNISON to the Tory Conference in Manchester. The weather was very warm and the turnout was around 55,000, apparently that's a record for Manchester. I took my camera along and for the most part the atmosphere was bright, I believe the news described it as jovial and like a carnival.

I took my camera so here's a few of the least blurry snaps. It was mainly the Labour party with a few SWP and SP stalls. Though I was close to a small Communist Party of Britain section, and I did see an Anarchist flag with a small group of UNISON members. There was also quite a few Badger masks and placards protesting the ongoing cull.

Preventing the sale of alcohol, they really are the nasty party

In addition to being a local banner its a good example of the problem being a street level photographer can be

Saw a couple other Wobblies here and there

They did a very good rendition of the Internationale

Spotted Scargill's lot

You'll have seen these chaps on the telly I'm sure

Caught up with Batman, the recession must of hit Waynecorp pretty hard

Overall the march went well, doubt much will have changed, a protest march and sit ins and the like are useful when they're part of a more extensive series of actions like strikes and blockades. Though it looks like the Trots either have no presence in Manchester or have haemorrhaged members, most SWP and SP stalls had two members and the leafleters combined with the AWL (another Trotskyist group) looked to be matched by the Peoples Assembly guys. And as far as I'm aware the only political party other then Labour to have a proper section on the march was the CPB. 

And in addition to the CPB the Morning Star supporters showed up