It annoys me how much of a dumbass I can be sometimes. Yesterday was turning out to be a pretty ordinary Saturday: I went out at about eleven, had a nice long trundle through Charlton (no cricket in the park yet) down to Woolwich and then back to North Greenwich along the river. Nothing too unusual. I got back at about four, had lunch and checked my computer, only to see that there was a massive anti right-wing protest in central London taking place, which I had been intending to go to but completely forgotten about.

I was in too minds at that point: was it still worth going, or was it too late? From the pictures I saw, something was still going on in Trafalgar Square, and getting to Westminster on the Jubilee Line isn’t that hard, so I headed off again (keeping a close eye on my powerchair battery level). It would obviously have been easier just to stay home and settle down for the evening, but this was important: right-wing reactionary politics is gaining more and more traction, and we must show our opposition to it whenever we have the opportunity. The gradual swerve towards right-wing vitriol, happening not just here but in America and elsewhere too, is becoming so concerning that we have no choice but to stand up to it. Mind you, given that the event was called Stand Up To Racism, I feel I ought to point out that some of the most broad minded, tolerant people I’ve ever known could not stand up.

Such gripes aside, unfortunately I got up there just as everyone was heading home: people carrying placards were heading in to Westminster tube station just as I was heading out of it; police on Whitehall were packing things up. From the look of it, it had been huge. I got to Trafalgar square but nothing was happening, so there was nothing for me to do but turn around and head home.

I may have missed it, but really hope there will be many more protests like yesterday’s. It is vital that we show our opposition to people like Farage and Yaxley-Lenon, and the puerile, repugnant politics they espouse. If we don’t it will just gain more and more traction. I’m glad to say that the action yesterday was huge: 150,000 people apparently turned out, far more than the 20,000 or so morons who came in support of Tommy Ten-Names. It just frustrates me that I wasn’t among them, although I’m pissed off at myself more than anything. The weirdest thing of all, though, was there wasn’t a word about it on the evening news, which was surprising given it was so big.