It's taken me a day or so to process the last demonstration. As Essex participants will know, there was a significant delay in our journey to the starting point - a fatality at Gidea Park caused all trains into Central London to be stopped. Undeterred, the group splintered and made their various ways into Hyde Park. From here on, then, I can only speak for my small family group who made it to Marble Arch at half past 1. Half an hour late, we were still able to join the crowd that was streaming steadily out of Hyde Park, with many more to come.
It was undoubtedly the highest-attended protest yet. Aerial footage courtesy of Richard Tice shows the miles of road occupied by tightly packed people. The BBC even said there were "thousands" of us, so by the ratio of their previous estimates, I assume there were over a million.
I was pleased to discover on Sunday morning that multiple papers had actually reported on the protest, and the Mail Online had used a photo that my banner and I can be spotted in! There's really no feeling like being noticed. It makes you feel like this exhausting slog might actually be getting us somewhere. As I had hoped, the protest left me energised and refreshed. People may claim that protests "don't really achieve anything"; I argue that if nothing else they raise morale, which stops Boris and his fear machine from breaking us. It's important to assemble, not only to demonstrate to observers how many of us there are, but to show each other as well. You are not alone. This is the striking emotional message that I carry away with me each time, regardless of how "successful" or otherwise the protest appeared to be.
In evidence of this, a touching story was shared by brilliant Telegraph cartoonist Bob Moran on Twitter. Outside the gates of Downing Street, the thickened crowd that had paused to yell its contempt was roaring with megaphones, whistles, and angry cries until a woman appeared in obvious distress - she had lost her son. Within a minute, those with megaphones had found out the boy's name, age, and what colour he was wearing and were repeating the information to the assembled groups. They soon found him, and Bob shared his feeling of admiration for the community spirit that truly represents our shared priorities. An additional observation that we can take from this event is how easily our troops can organise and achieve, when a task presents itself. Ironically, this ability simultaneously gives us hope while presenting a threat to those on the other side who have enough intelligence to observe the same. When the time comes, we will mobilise quickly, effectively, and with purpose.
The question remains: when will the time come? So far, the crimes have been edged upon us slowly and spread across many victims, which disadvantages us as it provides a far less substantial object for opposition. What will be the tipping point that provokes mass disobedience? Or has it already come and gone, unrecognised under the trickling pace of their actions?
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