05.12.2002
Geordies march
Saturday November 30 saw a demonstration in Newcastle upon Tyne organised by Tyneside Stop the War Coalition. Around 500 people joined the march, which started at the Quayside, passed through the town centre and finished with a rally outside the appropriately named International Centre for Life. The presence of mounted police seemed out of place for such a good-natured crowd who were encouraged by a much better range of slogans than had been available during the 'multi-purpose' demo against war, privatisation and racism held in the city earlier the same month. A range of banners were on display - mostly from trade unions, but also Socialist Alliance groups in Tyneside and Darlington. The rally was addressed by Yvonne Ridley, the journalist captured by the Taliban last year during the first leg of the 'war against terrorism', plus speakers from the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign and national and local anti-war groups. Representing the event organisers was Martin Levy, perhaps better known to Weekly Worker readers as a leading member of the Morning Star's Communist Party of Britain, whose speech focused on ridiculing the intellectual shortcomings of George Bush. Considering the determination of the rain to fall on the parade and the fact that this demo took place only a few weeks after a similar protest, it was impressive that so many people turned out to voice their opposition to the US and British governments' plans to attack Iraq. Steve Cooke
Worker